Herculean Aftermath
by jdho2
Summary: (AKA: Super Soldier Sandwich) In an AU with alphas, betas, and omegas, Stephanie Plum, an omega deals with the aftermath of a run-in with someone hopped up on a new drug- Hercules. If it helps her find her perfect matches, how bad could it be? Bucky/Steph/Steve Disclaimer: I still don't own anything in Janet Evanovich's world or any of the many Marvel universes.
1. Chapter 1

****A/N:****So, this is something COMPLETELY different from what I've written before, and I don't think I've seen any A/B/O fics in JE before. Hope people will enjoy it. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in reviews or send them via PM! Rating this T for language because I don't think I'm brave enough to dive in to the smut that you see in a lot of A/B/O fics on my first attempt!

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**Chapter 1**

_**Steph's POV**_

Alphas, Betas, and Omegas, that's just the way the world worked. Simplistically put, there were alphas to protect, betas to balance, and omegas to provide the comforts of a home- a "nest".

My name is Stephanie Plum, I'm an omega, and I thought that last little bit was mostly crap. Sure, I'd dated through the years. At thirty something I'd been on more than a few dates and even had a couple more serious relationships. Yet, even though I was with an omega, I never really felt the need to create a home.

Dickie was a beta who _wished_ he was an alpha. It took a while for me to understand that about him, but eventually I figured it out. There was nothing wrong with a beta and an omega being in a committed relationship. Many were able to do so and live perfectly happy lives feeling completely fulfilled. I'd thought Dickie was one of those, and that we didn't need an alpha to make us happy. So I'd agreed to move in with Dickie. But, of course, it turned out that Dickie was a beta who was envious of alphas and felt he should have been one only something went wrong. So Dickie banged any omega he could get to spread her (or his) legs, and felt no remorse over that fact because it made him feel like more of an alpha. The prick.

Then there was Joe Morelli. Morelli was an alpha, and he had no problem throwing around his alpha pheromones to make omegas _comply_. That night in Tasty Pastry when I'd given him my virginity, I'd been young, foolish, and too inexperienced to know how to resist. Although it had been terrible at the time to find him gone, I could only look back at it as time went on and be happy that he'd had to report to the Navy first thing the next morning. Yes, he'd written about me all over and generally embarrassed the hell out of me, but if he'd stayed, he could have talked me into a permanent bond without even really trying, and that would have been that.

When Morelli came back into town, part of my interest in taking his case on had been desire to prove myself strong and capable without him. Prove to him that I wasn't just some omega who would drop in submission for him to take. Of course, as my lady-bits had only been too happy to point out, I still had needs. For my part, the on-off relationship we began after I'd proven his innocence was purely about need fulfillment as well. I never let him help me out when I was in heat, just took heat suppressant meds and/or got familiar with my latest Pleasure Treasures purchase.

Unfortunately, on Morelli's side of things, I was still an omega whose virginity he'd taken, and he felt that gave him some kind of claim over me. In the beginning, he hadn't pressured much, most likely because it gave him freedom to bang anything that moved without me being able to feel upset about some other omega or beta's scent being all over him. Before too long though, it was all bond this and bond that. The fact that I didn't want to bond with him, make a nest with him, or provide him with "pups" began to be unacceptable. And don't even get him started on my job.

I, Stephanie Plum, was an omega doing an alpha's work. That's right- decades of equality movements, and there were still plenty of alphas out there who believed that omegas shouldn't work at all, and if they did, they should only be allowed very specific types of jobs. Generally those would be your support and hospitality jobs. Of course there were omegas, like my mother, who also believed this to be true and definitely didn't help my cause. Between Joe and my mother, I'd almost given in and just let Joe bond me. After all, I wasn't getting any younger and if I wasn't careful I'd never find myself a mate.

But thankfully I'd realized that I'd rather NEVER have a mate than be mated with Morelli and I'd gotten out of there lickety-split. When Ranger found out, he'd put a guard on me and another on my apartment. I'd fussed and hollered at him almost all day every day until he'd just started answering his phone and immediately hanging up. The time he hadn't even bothered to pick up the phone, I'd left a ten minute long rant about personal freedom and how I didn't leave one overbearing alpha who thought he could make all my decisions for me only to be stuck in the clutches of another. That night, Morelli had shown up and tried to force the bond, only to be stopped in the nick of time by a couple of Merry Men.

When I'd finally calmed down enough to stop jumping at every little shadow, Ranger and I had sat down and talked. As much as I didn't want to admit it, Ranger had a point. I was an omega who didn't want to be forced to make a home and play by everyone else's rules, so who was I to try to demand that Ranger be an alpha in ways he wasn't ready to be. To me, Ranger smelled like a warm campfire. Something comforting that could give me heat when I needed it, but he definitely didn't bring out that omega _need_ for me any more than anyone else I'd met had. Ranger was happy to protect me, make me a part of his life in that way, but he wasn't going to be my alpha. If it weren't for the fact that he'd told me he'd even help me through a heat if one hit and I didn't want to take suppressants for one reason or another, I'd say I was Ranger's little sister. Obviously with the occasional sex for comfort, that wasn't true, but Ranger would never bond with me, and we would never have _that_ relationship. It was difficult, but I finally accepted that reality.

After the incident with Morelli, it had taken me a little while to get back on my feet and feel confident enough to strike out on my own as a bounty hunter again. The first couple of times I'd tried to bring in an alpha, I'd panicked and some of Ranger's men had silently stepped in and helped me out. The Merry Men really _were_ like my big brothers. Honestly, I wasn't sure why it was the case, maybe they just had the best control of anyone on the planet. However exactly it came to be, the alphas among them outnumbered the betas almost four to one, and none of them had ever made a move on me. For the most part, packs were a thing of the past, but the Merry Men were darn close. If someone within the group had made a move on me, it would have certainly torn them apart, but none of them seemed to give it a second thought. Really it boiled down to the fact that we weren't compatible.

In a way, it was a little unnerving to constantly be around so many alphas who had no interest in my omeganess. But more than anything, I found it to be a relief. When I'd had a couple more close calls with alpha skips breaking into my apartment as well as a few run-ins with Morelli that had been way outside of my comfort range, we'd made some changes. The first had been that I stopped going after the alpha skips. Sure, it wasn't always a bad thing when I did, but really I'd lost my nerve where that was concerned. Ranger had given me the option of either taking a partner with me when I took them down or just not going after them anymore, and I'd decided on the latter. I would still do the legwork and track them down, but I'd be safely elsewhere (like a van a couple blocks away) while the takedown happened.

The second major change had been me moving into Rangeman. I'd been, I think completely understandably, hesitant to agree. What omega in her right mind would move into a building full of alphas and betas with whom she had no relationship nor did she want to? At least that's what the gossips in Trenton, and especially the Burg had to say about the matter. That or they would claim that I let all those men share me and was nothing better than a broodmare. How they explained a broodmare who never had any offspring, I don't know. I guess really they just thought I was a whore.

In reality though, I just had really good friends. Especially Ranger. Without asking for anything in return, he'd set up an apartment for me on Ella and Louis's floor. Ella was an omega and Louis was a beta, and they were a happily bonded pair so I never felt threatened in any way by their presence. And if I went into heat, nothing bad would happen. My door was outfitted with a top-of-the-line omega protection system that couldn't be unlocked by anyone but another omega when I was in heat. Going above and beyond, Ranger had installed panic rooms on every other floor of the building with the same locking system just in case I was visiting and got struck by the world's worst timing. As a bonded omega past her childbearing years, it was never something Ella really had to worry about anymore, but I could sense that even she felt a little bit better for their presence.

When I'd moved in initially, it had been on a trial basis and hadn't been contingent on me signing on with Rangeman. Then it had just worked so well that I had forgotten it wasn't permanent, but no one seemed to mind. The seventh floor was Ranger, sixth floor was Ella and Louis, me, and Ella's kitchen. Somehow I didn't get fat. And floors five through the basement were all Rangeman business and employee apartments. I had a desk there where I could run searches on my skips whenever I wanted to or I could drop by and run some for Rangeman if I felt like it. The apartment and the protective big brothers were mine regardless of how much or how little I worked for Ranger. And they were never conditional on my putting out.

Mary Lou, Lula, and Connie thought I was one lucky bitch, and from time to time they still hinted at thinking that I was holding out on the true nature of my relationship with Ranger or one of the other Merry Men. They only ever teased or hinted about such things in private, and never in a judgmental way. Anytime they heard a busybody going on about me in public, they were some of my fiercest defenders. Mary Lou may have been an omega and the same age as me, but she was quite the mama bear who wouldn't hesitate to take on _anyone_ who spoke ill of me. The rumors and gossip never went away, but I did manage to grow a thicker skin and learn to just ignore it.

Ranger and his men obviously heard the rumors and were very displeased about them anytime it came up, but we hardly ever spoke of it. One day, Ranger asked me if I wouldn't mind attending the staff meeting they were having. Because I didn't have a desperate need to go after any of my skips, and he rarely asked me for things like that, I readily agreed. Of course, that meant waking up at a time no one in their right mind would consider morning, taking a shower, and stumbling my way downstairs when I would much rather still be sleeping.

I shuffled into the conference room bleary eyed, and everyone turned and looked at me in amusement. I pulled my phone out of the pocket of my Rangeman cargo pants and took a glimpse at the screen.

"What? I'm two minutes early! Don't say a meeting starts at 6am," Ranger made a face and I just rolled my eyes and said, "Fine, 0600 hours, if you want it to start earlier than that!"

Pretty much everyone in the room instantly started letting off soothing scents and I gave them a look that said I knew what they were doing and they weren't going to get anything past me as I walked over and took my seat next to Ranger on the opposite side of Tank. I slouched down in my chair surprised when Ella popped up with a doughnut and coffee.

"Why are you here, Ella? You're usually too smart to come to these things," I said only half joking.

"Ranger asked Louis and I to be here, so we're here."

That was odd, as was the fact that I was getting a doughnut without anyone giving me any crap. Halfway through enjoying said doughnut and the coffee, I realized that I was still being bombarded by those soothing scents.

"Oh my god," I started panicking. "What is it? Is it Grandma Mazur? Did she die? Oh man, is it me? Am I dying?"

"No one is dying, Babe," Ranger said calmly.

"Okay, then what's going on? I have a feeling I'm the last one to know about whatever it is."

"Well, you are, but only because we wanted to make sure we had everything arranged and you had options no matter what you decided."

"Ooookay… that doesn't make it any more clear. Let's hear it."

"As you may or may not have figured out by now, one of the reasons this office is located in Trenton is because it is a nice sized city with a decent amount of crime, but also because it is not all that far from Fort Dix. While I was still under contract with the government, it made sense to be close to a support center like that so I could quickly be transported wherever I was needed. At this point in time, however, I and the rest of the men here, are now free of any government contracts, leaving us free to do whatever we want."

"You're leaving me," I whispered out feeling more than a little hurt. When every man in the room growled at that, I couldn't help but jump. Ranger grabbed my hand and gave it a comforting squeeze before letting go.

"You know that's not true unless you want it to be. Like I said, you've got options. I've managed to use what was essentially a retirement bonus to buy out my silent partner, so I now have complete control over every aspect of Rangeman. I'd like to move my primary base of operations from Trenton to New York. We've already scoped out and purchased a new building and had all the same safeguards for you put into place. Tank made sure all the paperwork was in order for you to be able to continue bounty hunting in New York, including a license to carry. We've identified some bonds offices that would be happy to work with you, and you can essentially choose from among them. We hope that you'll come with us, but if you don't want to, we'll split the team up and rotate between offices so that you can stay in Trenton and still be able to see everyone from time to time."

I sniffled a little because that was hands-down the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me without wanting anything. When I thought about it, I realized that really there was no question for me. This group of men was basically home for me in a way that Trenton had stopped being the day Morelli had attacked me and no one had believed me. It had been almost a year since that day, and I was ready to move on. New York could be my fresh start. Still sniffling, I looked up and gave the conference room a wobbly smile and said, "alright, New York. Let's give it a go!"

After that, things moved pretty quickly. Like a lot of people, I tended to think of Manhattan as being all ridiculously huge buildings such as Avengers Tower, but you really don't have to go very far off the beaten path to get more reasonably sized buildings. Apparently Ranger had his eye out for a couple of years, and when I reasonably sized building popped up on 1st Ave just a few blocks up from the UN, he had pounced. It was an older building, and Rangeman had bought it, gutted it, and renovated it basically from the bones out. Two weeks later I had a figurative knock-down, drag-out fight with my mother on my way out of town, and hardly looked in the rearview as I left. Although Ranger had offered them positions, Connie and Lula had elected to stay on with Plum Bail Bonds but promised to call and visit when they could.

Of course that meant there was a ton of work to do researching and deciding which bondsman we wanted to work with in our new city. Eventually though we worked out a system, and a few months in I was on the streets of a new city tracking down skips and bringing them in- often with a little bit of assistance from my favorite group of men. I was still wary of alphas, but omegas and betas I'd take down on my own whenever possible. I'd even started to get to know a few of the local cops, and I'd gone out on a few dates that had failed spectacularly as soon as they caught sight of the Merry Men.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

_**Steph's POV**_

It was a weekend in August, and it was fucking hot out. Thankfully, now that I was a somewhat more steady, though still part-time, contractor for Rangeman, I no longer had to operate using whatever POS I could buy for $500 or less. So at least I was able to do surveillance in an SUV with air conditioning. And that made the four hours of surveillance I had to do before I caught sight of my skip much more comfortable.

Blake Peterson was a beta, wanted for failure to appear in court where he was facing charges of larceny. No one had been present or injured while he perpetrated the theft, and it was his first offense. All in all, it was low risk, but still represented a few hundred bucks that would go nicely in my bank account. Okay, who was I kidding? I wanted that new pair of boots with fall fast approaching. For no apparent reason, he seemed to drop by the general area in the early evening each night, so I'd picked a representative spot and hunkered down, waiting to see if he'd be back, and sure enough he was.

I slid out of the SUV, carefully and quietly shutting the door so as to not draw attention to myself. As I followed him, I realized that we were on 3rd and really weren't all that far from home as far as I was concerned. If the address on his file was correct, though I'd yet to see him go there, Blake, on the other hand, _was_ far from home. And I'd so far been unable to determine exactly why he was coming into this part of town. He tended to disappear down seemingly random alleys or shops, and then reappear hours later. On this particular day, as I was following him, he'd been looking into each side street and alley as he strode past, and I followed trying not to get overly concerned over the fact that it was getting dark out. Figuring it was better safe than sorry, I'd just taken my phone out to text Ranger my location when I turned the last corner he'd taken.

Always be aware of your surroundings. That was a point Ranger was constantly drilling into me, and I was aware of my surroundings. I was aware of the scent that suddenly screamed ALPHA instead of beta, the terrified, crying woman he had pinned to the wall as he tried to drag her pants down, and the knife he held to the woman's throat.

"Stop! Bond Enforcement!" I yelled reflexively, barely having a moment to curse myself as stupid for not calling for help first as Blake turned to look at me. Now not only was I a female omega which he was apparently on the hunt for, but I was also the enemy in that my job was to bring him to jail. And he knew it. As he approached me, I pulled out my pepper spray and stun gun trying to exude a confidence that I didn't really feel. My plan was spray, zap, cuff, and I kept repeating that mantra in my head. The woman he'd been attacking scooted around him and made a break for it. Something about the way she was running made me think she wasn't exactly going to be bringing back help.

I made to fire the pepper spray and that's when I found out that Blake was _fast_. As he seemed to dodge the spray and made it to me, I brought my other arm up and hit him with the stun gun. That threw off his aim, and he got me with the knife in the arm. At that point, I wasn't thinking I just kicked him in the nuts. Knowing I still had time before the new bondman, Mike, lost any money and I was better off coming back with backup, I turned tail and ran. When I looked back, expecting to see him on the ground, I was surprised to see that he'd shaken it off and was chasing me. Shit. I opened my mouth and screamed bloody murder as I turned onto the next street and was tackled by Blake.

I was using every move that Ranger and his men had taught me, but this guy still seemed faster and stronger than any of them. I didn't know if that was just my fear or if it was true, but needless to say I could feel the fight starting to drain out of me as he continued to pummel me and sliced at my shirt. In the distance I thought I heard the sound of footsteps, but I really wasn't sure until the moment Blake went flying off of me. I could hear the dull sound of fists meeting flesh and smell at least one new alpha's presence as I scooted back into a corner behind a dumpster and curled in on myself, wishing I was invisible.

"He wasn't supposed to be an alpha. Blake was a beta. I don't go after the alphas anymore, and I definitely don't go alone. That would be silly. I go after omegas and betas and leave the others to go after the alphas," I was muttering to myself in an endless loop, not fully realizing that the sound of the fighting had stopped. A giant man with blonde hair stepped around the dumpster, and when I flinched away from the unknown alpha, he stepped back. I heard some words exchanged and then a brunette man stepped forward instead.

Beta. Even in my frazzled state, I could smell that he was bonded to the alpha.

He crouched down in front of me, and I could tell he was trying to make his presence less intimidating as he said, "hi there, Doll. I see you've got some cuffs there. You a cop? Plainclothes?"

"Bond enforcement," I gritted out. "P-p-paperwork said the skip was a beta. Caught him attacking a woman, couldn't take him down."

"That's okay, Doll. Steve and I got here just in time, didn't we. Say, do you mind if we borrow those cuffs." My eyes went wide and I tried to back further away, whining when my side met only brick wall and dumpster with nowhere to go. "Whoa, whoa. Not for you, for your 'skip' there. Steve's got him restrained for you, but it'd be a bit easier with the cuffs."

Slowly I lifted my eyes up until they caught his, "I recognize you from somewhere."

"You probably do. I'm going to have Steve come back over because he's the easier of us to recognize, okay? He's not going to hurt you, and he's definitely not going to let that man go. You're safe."

Hating myself for how weak and vulnerable I must look, I shyly nodded my head. When the big blonde man came back into view, I had to take deep breaths to try to keep myself calm. Looking back, I realize he was using a calming scent on me, but at the time it didn't register. What did register was, "you're Captain America."

"I am." Dear God, that voice was ridiculously sexy.

I looked back over at the brunette and said, "and the Winter Soldier?"

"Got it in one, Doll. Name's Bucky to pretty dames like you. Now, do you mind letting the Captain borrow your handcuffs?"

With shaking hands, I reached onto my belt and pulled out the cuffs as well as the plastic flexicuffs, not sure which ones they preferred. Doing so meant I had to relinquish my grip on my torn shirt, but both men made a point not to stare. As soon as Bucky had the restraints, and he'd taken them all, I quickly brought my hands back up and grabbed my shirt tight to wrap the tattered garment around me. I watched as Captain America cuffed the unconscious skip's hands behind his back, then used the plastic restraints to tie his ankles together then loop them through the ties on his wrists, effectively hog-tying him.

While still keeping plenty of distance between us, he lowered himself down to a squat as well and waited for me to meet his eyes. They were gorgeously blue and I felt like I could lose myself in them if I wasn't careful. Gently he said, "did you know Avengers Tower is just a couple of blocks that way?" I warily jerked my head up and down in a nod, so he continued. "We have a friend, another beta like Bucky here, who I need to have look over this guy- he's much too strong to be human or at least not be on something. You can come with us and we'll help you bring him to the police station once we're done testing him."

My mouth felt like sand, but I managed to take another deep breath and say, "okay."

"With your permission, he can treat you as well. I see your arm is bleeding, but I think I smell more blood than I should. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

A quick mental evaluation told me that my right side, the side I had crammed into the corner made by the wall and the dumpster that they couldn't see actually really hurt. Much more than the wound on my left arm he was referring to. Sliding myself forward just enough to be able to look down my side without getting any closer to the new men than necessary, I looked down at my side. I reached my opposite arm across and touched it, blinking in disbelief when it came back almost covered in blood. I turned to Bucky and whimpered, noticing Captain America clench his fists, but I was pretty sure he was angry in general and not at me, so I didn't concern myself overly much with it.

Mouth tightening, Bucky started reaching for me, and I just shook my head and threw my hand out to stop him, "I'm okay." His mouth turned down even more into a full on frown, but he didn't say anything just steadied me when I stood.

"Alright, we don't have far to go, so we'll start out trying this your way. Can you put some pressure on that for me, Doll?" he finally asked.

I did as he instructed then watched as Captain America reached down and threw my skip over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "That's handy," I muttered, laughing when I got a playful wink in return. When the men turned, presumably in the direction of the Tower, though I was all discombobulated at the moment, I paused. I walked back what was probably only twenty yards to the alley this had started in and tried to reach down with my left arm that was kind of dangling at my side awkwardly and grab my abandoned weapons.

"I got you, Doll," Bucky said, and reached down to pick them up and slid them onto my equipment belt easily.

"Thanks. I didn't want someone to stumble across them." Neither man said anything else as we started slowly walking again. When we turned onto Park, I could see Avengers Tower ahead of us and was studiously ignoring the occasional gasps from onlookers as they caught sight of us. I was telling myself I only had another block to go when things started to get a little shaky. Still, I powered forward and made it into the lobby. We stopped while Steve explained that we weren't going to be stopping to sign in and he would come back and fix everything with security in a little bit. I looked down at my feet and saw some drops of blood that were on the gorgeous white floors. Everything was getting fuzzy and grey, so I turned to Bucky and said, "rats, I almost made it."

_**Bucky's POV**_

The woman did not look good. I mean, she was gorgeous, but she was getting more and more pale as we moved down the streets toward the Tower. I don't think she even heard as I took out my phone and called ahead to Bruce to have him on standby. As Steve argued with the security guard briefly, I got more and more frustrated. When I noticed the woman start to waver, I stepped a little closer. The fact that she didn't flinch and move away clued me in so I was already moving toward her as she said, "rats, I almost made it," and promptly passed out.

Quickly catching her and gently lifting her into my arms, I called out "Steve." Steve looked over, realized what had happened, and growled at the security guard, causing the man to go completely white. Without any further delay, we rushed to the elevator and asked JARVIS to take us to Bruce.

"She smells so good," Steve said.

"To me too," I replied, exchanging a smile with Steve. Beyond the everyday scents of alpha, beta, or omega, everyone carried their own scent that smelled different to everyone else, and it usually offered significance, especially for people who represented good matches. To me, Steve smelled like fresh baked bread, and the fact that this woman smelled like a very complementary fresh jam was a very good sign as far as compatibility was concerned.

"She's an omega," Steve said. From the outside, it may seem like he was stating the obvious, but I knew better. We'd been talking lately, now that I was recovered and feeling mentally stable again, about trying to find a third to round out our bond. An omega. Even knowing nothing else about this woman, something deep inside was telling me she might just be the perfect fit.

"Skittish as hell," I responded.

"I always did like a challenge." Steve responded before grinning over at me and adding, "like you're one to talk anyway."

When the elevator doors opened, the entire team was standing there looking curious. Steve gave me room to exit first and I settled the woman down on the table Bruce indicated.

Bruce took one step toward the woman and Steve threw the man he was carrying over his shoulder onto the floor, growled again, and stepped menacingly forward until he was right next to the woman. Holding his hands up non-threateningly but not stepping back, Bruce calmly said, "Steve, you brought her here so I can help her. Please let me do that."

Steve nodded his head curtly, and I sighed with relief.

Sam spoke up, probably silently elected as the least likely to piss Steve off, and said, "so… want to explain who our guests are?"

Knowing Steve really wasn't in the mood to talk, I took responsibility for explaining. "Steve and I were on our way back from taking a walk when we heard a woman scream. Took us a little while to find her, but when we did, that guy," I kicked the unconscious man for emphasis, "was on top of her. We got him off of her, and subdued him."

"Do we know who she is? Anything about her?" Natasha asked steadily.

I shrugged, "she's an omega. Said she was a bounty hunter and he was supposed to be a beta. She was curled up on herself just kind of stuck like a broken record player for a while saying she didn't go after alphas, 'the others' did. Seemed rather frightened of us, especially Steve, so I'm guessing there's a story there."

Sam let out a low whistle, "omega bounty hunter, I think we can probably fill in those blanks pretty easily."

"Omegas can do whatever they want, and be whatever they want," I said to Sam aggressively.

"Not saying they can't, just saying with the type of people she probably deals with regularly, I can see why she wouldn't want to go after the alphas."

Bruce had slid her utility belt off and set it to the side, and Natasha walked over and snagged it off the table, pulling out the gun and tossing the rest to Clint. There was a rectangular compartment that he flipped open and pulled out a few items as well as a set of keys with a couple of fobs on them. He set those to the side and started flipping through the rest. Holding up a drivers license he said, "Stephanie Michelle Plum, brown hair, blue eyes, 5 feet 7 inches, 130 pounds, 33 years of age, omega female. Picture looks like your girl there. Lists an address over on 1st, right around 52nd or so if I'm not mistaken, so she's not too far from home." Setting the card to the side, he looked at the next piece of paper, "license to carry in New York City; those are hard to come by."

"That's good," Natasha said, "given that she was carrying a loaded gun along with that stun gun."

Clint set the license aside, and looked at the next sheet, another laminated card. He let out a whistle of his own before he said, "She's an employee of Rangeman Security. I've heard of them. They're the new kids in town, but they've already got the reputation of being one of the best. They also went to all the rough neighborhoods in town and made sure everyone around knew not to fuck with them. I thoroughly vetted them figuring better safe than sorry. They're clean. Solid. There's a phone number here to call in case of emergency and it says that one Ranger Manoso, CEO and owner of Rangeman, has her Medical Power of Attorney."

I wasn't pouting because that's not something assassins do as I snatched the card up and said rather defensively, "she's not bonded."

Stepping off to the side, I dialed the number.

"Rangeman."

"I'd like to speak to Ranger Manoso, please."

"What is this about?"

"I have an employee of his here, and I understand he's her medical power of attorney."

"Steph? Bomber? What the fuck? Hold on."

I was placed on hold and could see Steve making quick glances at me while he studied what Banner was doing, working on Steph and blocking the view of her exposed top from the rest of the room. "I'm guessing she's the only female employee? They seemed to know who I meant right away. Called her 'Bomber' which seems like a weird nickname."

Just then a steely voice came on the phone and said, "This is Ranger Manoso, which hospital are you and what is her condition?"

"My name is Bucky Barnes, I work at Avengers Tower, and we have her in one of our medical rooms right now. She should be fine, but she lost a lot of blood."

"O negative. Two minutes," the voice said then disconnected.

Everyone was staring at me, so I just shrugged as I hung up. "He said she's blood type O negative and he'd be here in two minutes."

"Yeah, I'm just going to go," Darcy indicated downstairs as she stepped on the elevator.

"I'm not sure that's such a good… idea," I trailed off lamely as the doors shut whisking her off.

"What's the problem?" Natasha asked.

"Guy _sounded_ like a pissed off alpha just over the phone."

Bruce looked up, "you said O negative?"

"Yep."

"Tony?" Bruce looked over at the billionaire who was already moving toward the indicated refrigerator and started going through it.

"We got a problem, Doc," Tony finally said after going through the box meticulously multiple times, going more slowly on each pass.

Bruce sighed, "yeah, I was worried about that. We don't have any in stock right now. We used it up last week."

The elevator doors had just opened and I turned to see Darcy practically drooling over the muscular man whose face was giving nothing away as he strode into the room.

He walked right up to me and said, "I'm Ranger Manoso, what happened?"

I explained the situation, until Bruce interrupted, "what blood type are you, Mr. Manoso?"

"Not O negative," he said carefully. Bruce went around and looked at everyone but Steve and I in turn and each shook their head.

"I am," I said slowly. "So's Steve."

"How long will it take to get other blood here?" Tony asked.

"Longer than we probably want to go without," Bruce said frankly.

"What's the problem here? Mr. Barnes sounds like he was willing to spare a pint or two," Manoso said with plenty of challenge in his voice. Yeah, he knew who we were and he'd picked up on the undercurrent between Steve and I and his unconscious friend.

"We don't know what their blood might do to her, and she can't consent."

"I have her medical power of attorney," Manoso said, pulling a paper out of his back pocket and handing it off to Bruce. "Talk to me, what side effects are you worried about?"

"Well, Steve has what is known as the super soldier serum in his body. We don't know what would happen. The choices are nothing, nothing now but something on exposure to radiation, and well, super soldier now, I'd guess. Or any combination of those last two."

"At least she'd insta-heal then," Darcy said. When everyone looked at her incredulously, she just shrugged, "looks like it hurts."

"And Mr. Barnes?" Manoso asked.

Bruce opened his mouth, but looked over at me, unwilling to break confidence. I sighed, "I expect this to stay between you and me, Manoso. But we don't exactly know. I was held captive and experimented on by the Nazis. They were trying to recreate what Steve has, but we've never found the formula they used, nor do we know if it is just one formula." He frowned pensively, so I tried for the joke saying, "the arm's from falling off a train and down a ravine though, she wouldn't lose a limb."

"We could do both, see what happens!" Tony said sounding a little too eager only to whine when Natasha smacked him on the back of the head.

Ranger eyed us both speculatively then turned to Bruce, "anything negative?"

"Not if you don't consider what happened to them to be negative."

"Not like she's going to get kidnapped because of her blood," Darcy said.

"She might," everyone else said at once, and Darcy's mouth formed an "o" of surprise.

Ranger was silent for a full minute before Bruce said softly, "I don't want to rush you…"

"She's omega, so beta blood is safer, right?"

"Yes, but more of an unknown given the history."

"Doing nothing could cause permanent damage or death, right?" Ranger asked bluntly, raising an eyebrow when Steve and I both growled at that.

With a sigh, Bruce said, "yes."

"Use Barnes."

I immediately walked over, sat at the head of the table next to where Steve was standing and stuck my arm out. Moments later, Bruce had stuck us both with needles and I was watching my blood flow straight into the veins of this stranger to whom I was undeniably drawn. I rested my forehead on Steve's back and we both stared at Stephanie, ignoring everyone else who was watching us.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

_**Ranger's POV**_

Steph had gotten so much smarter about which skips she did and didn't go after alone over the past year, that we didn't really question her anymore. Not to mention the fact that we'd been training her and she was pretty darn good in a fight. Didn't even need to add on the qualifier of "for her size" because Hector had made sure to work carefully with her so her size was an advantage rather than a disadvantage. She wasn't even late when I got the call, so I hadn't had any cause to worry.

As soon as Cal called to let me know someone was on the phone about Steph needing medical information, if grabbed my keys and was getting in the car as they connected the call to my cell. Looking back, when I heard Avengers tower, I should have gone back upstairs and asked if anyone was O negative before I left. Of course, I would have found out that no one who was on that day actually was O negative, so it wouldn't have mattered much anyway. Once Banner explained the situation to me, I figured Barnes looked okay to me. Stable at least. And Steph would be less likely to have a negative reaction to beta blood than to alpha blood- especially… _super_ alpha blood…

I waited until the field transfusion was set up and flowing for a minute before I pushed off the wall I was leaning against and stepped closer. I felt Rogers tense as I approached letting of a steady stream of protective scent, and in a low voice, I whispered, "she's had a tough time of it. You may both be Avengers, but I have contacts and skills you haven't even guessed yet and a building full of men with the same skills willing to die to help me protect her. She's family. If you do _anything_ to hurt her, believe me when I say they will _never_ find either of your bodies."

So saying, I turned on the spot and walked over to where the man who was trussed up on the ground had woken up and was looking around calculatingly. I stopped in front of him and demanded, "did you do that to her?"

He looked over at Steph on the table and said, "bitch," while spitting in her direction.

I kicked him in the stomach with my steel toed boot and said, "wrong answer." I knelt down next to him and pulled his face to look at me. Giving him what Stephanie called my dead eyes and flooding him with alpha scent much meaner than his own, I asked, "do you know who I am?"

"Manoso."

"See now, the fact that you know that makes me think you aren't just a petty thief like your jacket says. That means you know who she is."

"Manoso's bitch," he spat out.

I made a tsking sound, "that won't do; we've been trying to knock that name down since the first time we heard it. She's family, but I'm guessing you don't know what that means." His eyes had strayed back toward the table, so I jerked his head back. "You don't look at her, hear me? And you _definitely_ don't ever touch her again. Now tell me, what were you doing over here. Steph said you were coming here every day, but she hadn't figured out why yet. And what did she find out that made you do that to her?"

When he didn't respond, I flipped a knife out of my boot and held it up for him to see. From behind me, Barnes just calmly said, "don't know what he's into, but Steph here said she found him attacking a _different_ woman. Guess she tried to stop him."

I turned to look at Barnes and saw approval in his eyes at what I was doing. Glancing over at the Captain, I saw a similar look on his face, and it made me feel a little bit better about them as potential suitors for Steph. Truth was I knew the day would probably come eventually, as did all of my men, and this alpha and beta pair in front of me were probably at the top of the trustworthiness scale. Which meant we really _couldn't_ object.

Rogers opened his mouth and said, "my guess is some kind of steroid or something similar. He was too strong for how he looks. I wanted Banner to run some tests on him once he's done with Steph here. Make sure it wasn't anything the team needed to worry about. We promised Steph we'd turn him over to her once he was done, and help her bring him into the police station if necessary."

I looked back at the man on the ground and said, "interesting." Then I dealt him a swift uppercut to knock him back out. Standing back up, I looked over at the rest of the people in the room, including the intriguing omega, Darcy, who had met me downstairs. She was staring at me wide-eyed, so I just shrugged and said, "probably not worth talking to again until you guys have those test results back, and I don't want him overhearing more than he should."

I wanted to pace, but instead I just walked over to the wall opposite everyone else and put my back to it, arms crossed across my chest. "So she was well enough to talk for a while then?"

When Barnes didn't look at Rogers for permission before responding, I took that as a positive sign that Rogers wasn't a domineering asshole of an alpha. "Yes, she was really skittish, but she was talking. She didn't want us to touch, so she walked back all the way to the Tower. Made it into the lobby before she passed out from the blood loss."

There were a few surprised noises that the men had let Steph walk under her own power when she was losing blood like that, but I liked it. I knew just how freaked out Steph would have been, even if she had recognized them, and that really was the best course of action. Plus it showed that they respected her feelings, even when they didn't understand them. Pulling out my phone, I placed a call into Tank, my right-hand man.

As soon as I heard the call connect, I said, "go to Steph's workstation."

"Little Girl okay?"

"Yeah, she's uh…" I trailed my eyes over to where the blood was flowing straight from Barnes into Steph and hoped again that I wasn't making a mistake where that was concerned. "Getting some blood right now, but she should be good as new once it's done and she wakes up. Maybe better."

Tank let the silence reign long enough to indicate that he knew something was up and wanted to know what before he asked, "What hospital? The men want to start rotating in to visit. Keep her company, make sure she doesn't jailbreak early."

Letting my eyes scan around the room, I said, "they don't exactly have visiting hours here. Just tell everyone she's going to be fine, and I'll bring her back so they can see that with their own eyes as soon as I possibly can. She's found some new friends that I think can entertain her until she's ready to leave. And I don't think she'll be able to sneak out early this time."

More silence. "Okay, I'm at her computer."

"Pull up her file on the skip she was after today. He doesn't seem to have ID on him," I said looking over to Hawkeye and Black Widow who verified that they didn't have it.

"Blake Peterson," Tank said.

I relayed the name and watched as Tony Stark himself moved to pull a computer out of an otherwise smooth seeming wall. Ten seconds later I had a picture displayed on the wall that upon closer inspection, seemed to match the man on the ground.

"Yep, that's him," I said before just going ahead and putting the phone on speaker but indicating for everyone to be quiet. "Tell me what she's got on him; I've got someone here helping me verify."

"Where the hell are you Boss?" Tank murmured as he was obviously reading. He didn't expect me to answer and I didn't do so. "Alright, the file she got from the bonds office says he was charged with theft, no injuries or anything like that. Bail was set at $5,000 and he put up his car as collateral. He's registered as a beta, something Mike himself confirmed. He knows our agreement on that. So relatively low bond, non-violent, beta. This is definitely one Steph should have been able to take on her own."

I thought for a moment, well aware that everyone was watching me carefully. Generally, I liked to play things close to the vest, but if Steph reacted the same way as these two men she'd just met did to her presence when she was feeling better, I figured we'd need to be friendly. Holding out on them now wouldn't be a good start. Plus, this was happening in their backyard too.

"Hey man, remember when we were introducing ourselves around when we moved into town?" I heard a snort of laughter and looked over at Barton. If word of our arrival had made it all the way into Avengers Tower, then I was quite proud of myself and my team. It also meant that he would have investigated us, and if I made it upstairs with only Darcy as an escort, I'd passed at least one step of approval.

"Yeah."

"I'm trying to remember. What did that one guy say?"

"Which guy Boss? There were a lotta guys, and most of 'em didn't like you."

"I don't know why, I'm perfectly charming." Silence. I had trained my team well. "It was a group that we were surprised seemed to be operating so close to Avengers Tower. He said something about how alphas like me should watch our step."

"Hold on," I heard a snap, a whistle, then a crashing thunk.

"If whatever that was was something of Steph's you better replace it before she gets back."

"Santos will replace it for not fucking paying attention to me!" Tank growled out.

"Yeah, well if it was the stapler, he better get on it because I have no idea where the fuck she bought that thing, but she loves it and I wouldn't be surprised if she's back by morning."

I heard Tank relay the message and some cursing in the background. When Tank came back on the line he said, "he's working on it. Now, I have the transcript from that… neighborhood orientation meeting. Let's see, we don't know the guy's name, but we'll start digging into that crew. He said, 'All you macho alpha punks better watch yourselves. I know a guy who is going to level the playing field. He's going to cut us in if we help him find testers, and we'll be something better than alpha real soon.' That's all I got, we mostly dismissed it as posturing. Why?"

"Because I'm looking at Peterson right now, and he's not a beta, he's an alpha. From what I hear he's a little stronger than he should be too."

"Well, shit. Little Girl's going to be okay?"

"Yeah, her new friends came along and helped her out."

"You know, I'm looking at these notes of hers, and I'm seeing where she probably was looking for Peterson today. Seems to me it's about midway between here and about the only place I can think of in the city that might take in someone who'd been injured while not allowing public visitors."

If he'd started pumping me for information, that meant he didn't have any more to give me. "Email me everything you have on Peterson and that neighborhood orientation meeting." So saying, I hung up the phone.

Black Widow was staring at me with an eyebrow raised, and I just returned the favor before turning back to check my email on my phone, "I don't hire people who aren't smart."

"What's the deal with the stapler?" Darcy asked.

I softened my look a little as I said, "he threw it at Santos's head to get his attention."

"How'd you know that?"

"It sounded like when he throws a stapler at Santos's head to get his attention."

"That a regular occurrence?"

"It's not irregular."

"Huh, well, what's so special about the stapler?"

"Stupidest thing I ever allowed in the office. It's bright red, shaped like a gun, and it makes a little 'bang' noise every time she uses it. It's a piece of crap gag gift, so it breaks all the damn time and she's always bugging someone to fix it."

I looked over and saw that Tony Stark had a picture of it already up on the wall. I nodded at him in acknowledgement, and he said, "tell your man it'll be there by midnight."

"Me too, me too!" Darcy said quietly, and I saw Stark nod at her.

"Told the man not to go out drinking like that when he's got a shift the next day," I said. "He can search for one all fucking night. Then I'll tell him once Steph is on her way back."

"What if he finds one?" Darcy asked.

"Then we'll have a backup for next time."

The man who was one of the newer Avengers whose real name I didn't know but was pretty sure went by Falcon decided to speak up. "We're pretty security conscious here, which I'm sure you can respect given your occupation." I inclined my head in agreement and he continued, "but if you'll give us names and let us run checks, I'm sure we can arrange for at least some small groups of visitors. They'll have to check any weapons at the door, so to speak."

I looked over at where Rogers was still standing guard over Steph, watching Banner carefully and making sure no one else but the Winter Soldier got close. "I really don't think that's a good idea right now."

"I don't need you running interference for me, I can handle myself," Rogers growled.

"I'm sure you can, but it's a delicate situation and they're all wildly over protective of her. If they decide to try to run you off, I don't have a contingency plan for my entire workforce being out until bones heal and heads are regrown. And their tempers are always high when she's hurt."

"What he called her," Bucky indicated at the skip on the floor and spoke steadily, tone making it clear he was expecting me to fill in the blank, not asking me to do so.

I shrugged, "we aren't together that way, but she had a run in with a pretty bad gang a while back. I got in some people's faces, and people started calling her that. On one hand, I'm not wild about the implication of the phrase or the lack of respect it shows. On the other hand..."

I trailed off and Barton filled in, "you have a reputation as someone whose things shouldn't be fucked with in _any_ way, and it helps keep her safe when she's on the streets alone. Especially in gang territory where that kind of claim is at least somewhat understood and respected."

"And sorry if I'm the slow one here, but why exactly is she on the streets again?" Darcy asked.

"She works as a bounty hunter, part time for me tracking down the ones she doesn't want to bring in herself and passing off the info for my team to bring in. The rest of the time, she works solo, but she can borrow a partner if she wants backup. Generally she takes the non-violent, lower stakes FTAs for herself. Uses my men to bring in anyone she's concerned about or who is an alpha."

"And what's an FTA?"

"It stands for Failure To Appear," Steph's voice croaked from behind me, and we all turned to look at her. Thankfully, Banner had already pulled a blanket up over her after he finished the stitches a few minutes ago. Captain America carefully started to step back when he realized she was awake, not wanting to startle her, but Steph just touched his arm gently and smiled to let him know he could stay. Then she turned her attention back to the relative strangers across the room, took them in, and just rolled with it. "It means he got released from court on bail, used Mike's Bail Bonds to pay for it, but didn't show up as scheduled. That means Mike will lose money, in this case next week, if he doesn't wind up back in jail. I track them down and bring them back to court to reschedule, which is my nice way of saying that they get thrown back in jail and have to stay unless they take out another bond."

Steph looked over at the man on the ground and I could smell the fear coming off of her even as I heard the heart rate monitor pick up. Rogers just shifted himself to be more clearly between her and the man and she calmed right down.

"Okay over there, Babe?" I asked gently.

"Yeah, somethings wrong with Peterson, though, Ranger. He's supposed to be a beta and he's definitely _not_. But more than that, I think he's on something."

That pretty much confirmed what Rogers had said, but Black Widow still asked, "why do you say that, Steph?"

I heard Steph mutter, "hi, I'm Steph, it's nice to meet you," under her breath and couldn't contain a chuckle. I noticed the Widow's lips twitch, and she said, "hi, Steph. My name's Natasha. It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry for being so curt, we're just trying to figure out if there's a larger problem here. Some new drug or something possibly bigger that we need to be concerned about."

"I got him with the pepper spray, my stun gun, _and_ I kicked him in the junk. It hardly phased him, and I know I'm not fast, but he was _much_ faster than you or _any_ of the Merry Men, Ranger." Before anyone could ask, Steph added, "long story, but that's what I call Ranger's employees. They do not like it, but they let me get away with it because I'm their favorite."

Everyone turned to look at me, and I just nodded in agreement. Steph was their favorite.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks everyone who is reading and reviewing! Things are crazy for me this week, and I'm reading your reviews, but I haven't found the time yet to respond to all of them. I promise to do so this weekend or early next week! *hugs*


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_**Steve's POV**_

When Steph spoke from where she was laying on the medical bed next to me, I felt a small amount of tension ease from me. Preparing to step away and give her some space after her earlier fear of my presence, I was stopped short at a soft touch on my arm. Looking down at her, I returned her smile when she smiled softly up at me. Well, okay then, maybe it wouldn't be quite so difficult to earn her trust after all.

Even though I had just met this woman, I felt as though I was already very in tune with her emotions, so when I realized she was afraid of Peterson, I slid in front of her. I put myself between them physically, but I also made sure to project my scent over hers so that Peterson wouldn't get the satisfaction of knowing he'd scared her if he happened to wake up. I couldn't help the ghost of a smile that crossed my face when she sassed Natasha about using Steph's name without introducing herself first. I liked that Steph could stand up for herself, even from a hospital bed. I'd never really been attracted to any specific omega before, but I knew neither Bucky nor I would be able to settle with a more "stereotypical" omega who lacked a spine.

I listened as she told her experience with Peterson before we arrived on scene, and thought it through.

"I don't like it," I finally said with a sigh.

"No shit, Cap," Clint said. "We can all tell that you are very unhappy at the moment. Pretty much everything about you is screaming 'pissed off alpha' right now. Why do you think everyone is tiptoeing way more than usual. Except for Darcy. Because Darcy doesn't know how to tiptoe."

I chuckled when Darcy made a rude gesture at Clint in response before replying, "not that. I mean, yes, I am very unhappy about Steph being attacked, but that's not what I was talking about just now." Then, thinking it through, I took a moment to do a mental self-evaluation. I could feel my eyes widen in surprise as I realized exactly how much I was projecting at the moment in scent, body language, and tone. Frankly, I was actually surprised that Steph was letting me stand near her given that I had no claim whatsoever to her but was certainly acting like I did. Taking a few breaths, I managed to calm myself down and even relax my body language to the point of resting against the table instead of standing guard. On the inside, I was still all over the place, but I could at least try to help soothe Steph a little because she was probably even more wound up and confused.

Starting again, I said, "I'm talking about what Ranger said that one guy said to him. Some person or group apparently has a drug that is going to make people healthier, stronger, and possibly alpha. But they aren't doing actual drug trials and they're using some sort of gang or similar crew to recruit test participants?"

"Reminds me of Project Centipede, but without even pretending to be legitimate." Natasha said.

I pointed at her, "exactly."

"What is that?" Steph asked from behind me.

"Basically it was a HYDRA project," I said slowly knowing there were triggers out the wazoo for my teammates here that I didn't want to trip- Bucky in particular. "They had various means of recruiting people, some were volunteers and some were forced. One of the ways they would recruit people would be by taking people who were sick or injured and promising them a cure. Centipede's goal was to create a super army for HYDRA, and while they did heal the volunteers, they also implanted explosives in their brains to force compliance."

Tony curtly added, "they also didn't care which or how many test subjects died from their serums. Or laboratory staff for that matter. If someone died, then they'd maybe try it again anyway, and eventually cross it off the list of possibilities. Then they'd just bring in another test subject."

"So you're saying whatever organization is behind this guy here, if there's something other than PCP or the like in his system, might be using drug dealers to find test subjects," said Ranger.

"I don't know, that's just the gut feeling I can't quite shake."

"If they mix it in with the drugs they're distributing, we could wind up with a lot of Petersons out of the blue one day. Just walking around, feeling invincible, and high on new hormones," Bruce voiced my biggest concern.

"Well, this is cheery," Steph said behind me. "That's like a bomb, with a timer of unknown length, just waiting to explode one awful day on the streets for me."

"Well, we'll pick up your skips for you while you're healing over the next-" Ranger started allowing Bruce to cut in.

"One to two weeks," Bruce said while working to disconnect the transfusion between Bucky and Steph.

"Use that time to think about coming into the fold full time and permanently. Either way, you can have a partner until this is resolved. If it starts looking bad, we'll double up teams on patrols and call outs," Ranger trailed off, clearly trying to think of how best to allocate resources.

Taking advantage of the silence, Steph said, "speaking of serums." She looked between where she was holding a cotton swab down that Bruce was preparing to tape on her arm and Bucky. "Thanks for the blood, Bucky, but was that wise. Aren't you like... Serumed?"

Ranger spoke up before Bucky had to respond, "that's on me, Steph. They didn't have any blood of your type in their storage and you needed it. Captain Rogers and The Winter Soldier there are the only ones here with the same blood type. It was your best chance."

"Alright then, that's fine. Hopefully I don't get all muscle-y or anything. No offense to either of you, but I think it looks better on you than it would on me!"

I shrugged and said, "you were the one who was jealous of the way I could haul your skip around."

She looked thoughtful for a moment and finally said. "Well, no use crying over spilled milk, what's done is done, and so on."

"How do you feel, Doll?" Bucky asked softly.

"Well, not the worst I've ever felt, but also not great."

"Does it hurt?"

"Okay, I know you're all like crazy super spies and shit, so maybe you don't feel it anymore. But getting stabbed?"

She looked over at Bruce and he kind of bobbled his hands in a way that said, "basically, for the intent of this conversation, yes."

"Yeah, getting stabbed hurts. Stitches, also don't feel great."

"No one here is going to say that getting stabbed doesn't hurt. It hurts," Sam said. "Sam Wilson, by the way. It is nice to meet you."

In turn, Tony, Clint, and Darcy introduced themselves, with Darcy launching into an explanation of how she'd come to be on the team and why Thor and Jane weren't there to meet her that was light on details, but high on humor. When Steph turned to look at Bruce, she caught the syringe he had taken advantage of her distraction to slip into her skin without her noticing.

"Damnit, Doc! You can't just! Which one was that?"

"Just some fentanyl with benzodiazepine to hold you over until I get this first bag of fluids through you. Then I'll switch you to something else in your next IV bag."

"Damnit! Ranger!" Steph said before clamping her mouth shut.

You could tell Ranger wanted to laugh as he cleared his throat and said in a very serious voice, "Ms. Plum would like to request that we first attempt to manage her pain using over-the-counter drugs instead of prescription drugs as her mouth has a tendency to run away from her when she has certain drugs in her system."

"Ooooh, goody!" Darcy said enthusiastically while clapping her hands and pulling a chair closer to Steph. Steph's response was to actually take her left hand and put it over her mouth.

We all turned to Ranger, and he just waved a hand like it didn't matter.

"That's just because it hasn't hit her yet. Give it maybe one more minute, and she'll forget she doesn't want to talk."

"Maybe we should start looking into those problems we uncovered. Give Steph some privacy. Bucky and I will watch over her, and you all can do some research," I tried knowing it was a wasted effort but feeling like I had to try anyway. Natasha raised a brow and took advantage of her bonded omega status making her a relative non-threat, at least to Bucky and my intent to pursue a relationship with Steph, to get close. So close, in fact that she actually perched herself on the bed next to Steph.

"What's your favorite color, Steph?" She asked, all smiles.

Steph looked at her suspiciously but removed her hand to say, "blue."

"Oh yeah? Any particular shade?" When Steph just shrugged, Natasha leaned in conspiratorially and asked, "like Cap's eyes?"

"Those are pretty, but no. Like the ocean in Hawaii."

She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then stubbornly shut it again as I gave Natasha a withering stare.

Apparently wanting to distract everyone, and probably prevent a fight between Clint and I if I lashed out at Natasha, Bucky ran a hand through Steph's hair and asked, "how much does it hurt now?"

"I can hardly feel it, is it still there?" She leaned up and pulled back her blanket a little, and I only barely managed to catch it while turning my head and keeping her from exposing herself to the whole room. When she leaned back down, I settled the blanket on her and looked at her face which was comically awed and expressive. "Did you see that?" She asked everyone enthusiastically.

"Ah, no Steph," Tony said sounding disappointed enough to make me send him a look, "we did not see it."

"Well, you missed out because that is wicked! Bruce how many stitches did you use? That is going to be a really cool scar later."

"Yeah?" I asked. "Natasha has one little scar on her stomach from some mission years ago and she's always complaining about how she looks awful in bikinis now."

Steph let out an unladylike snort and said, "yeah right."

"Steve, you really want to talk about that scar?" Natasha asked. Since she's gotten it from Bucky while he was still under HYDRA's control, I could see her point, but he really was doing better about it now. Apparently deciding to get some retribution, Natasha said, "you know, Bucky gave me that scar. Speaking of Bucky, what do you think of him?"

"I'm sure it wasn't his fault," Stephanie said with a very serious tone. "Everyone knows he was held prisoner for decades and brainwashed! You can't hold that against him."

I noticed not only Bucky but Barton relax hearing her say that, and I was reminded that no matter how far either seemed to have come, they still carried around a lot of guilt for things outside their control on a daily basis. As well as fear for how the public would perceive them. We all had guilt, but theirs was maybe the worst.

"Hmmm," Natasha pretended to think about it before saying "I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am!" Steph responded indignantly.

"Alright, what else do you think of him?"

"He smells like the beach!"

"Oh yeah, and what does Cap smell like?"

"Boston Creme donuts!"

Everyone other than Ranger kind of froze because those two things really didn't seem to go together. With a low voice he just encouraged, "wait for it."

"Oh boy! Those are basically my two favorite things! I could eat Boston Creme donuts while sitting on the beach every day from here to the end of the world, and I would die a happy woman!"

Everyone started laughing and Bucky and I couldn't help but join in. Bucky reached over, out of everyone's line of sight, and gave me a soft stroke on the back that communicated both of our relief. Steph just joined in to the laughter before getting a puzzled look on her face and saying, "wait, I don't get it. What's so funny? It's true..."

"Don't worry about it, Doll. I'll explain it to you later." Bucky said, carefully running his metal hand through her hair. "When you're feeling better."

Steph leaned into his hand and rubbed her face along it like a cat before saying, "that's really cool, and you control it so well. I bet it can-"

Ranger jumped up, clapping his hands and saying, "hey, Steph! I forgot to tell you earlier, Santos broke your stapler this morning."

It seemed Ranger wasn't going to let Steph embarrass herself too badly, which made me relax a little about the situation. From what I could tell, he knew her way of thinking well enough to guess what she'd say next and keep her from saying anything she wouldn't forgive herself or us for blurting out later.

We all listened in amusement as Steph started listing all the ways she was going to get back at Santos. She was going to start by getting someone named Ella to take in his uniform pants just a little at a time every other time she washed them. Then Steph was going to set Tank's cats loose in Lester's apartment. Ranger's lips twitched at that one, no doubt because of the fact that Lester had "broken" Steph's stapler by having Tank throw it at his head. We listened to a few more ideas, including what she referred to as the "classic" itching powder in the jock strap joke.

The most confusing part was when she finished triumphantly with, "and then I'm going to tell him I drove his car!"

Everyone looked at Steph like maybe those drugs were treating her a little too good, though Ranger was actually full on belly laughing, so I was more convinced that we were missing something.

"You're going to _tell_ him you drove his car?" Clint clarified.

"Yes!" Steph said in that same triumphant tone, this time clapping her hands and cackling with glee.

"Are you _actually_ going to drive his car?" Tony asked.

"God no, I don't hate him."

"What? Is he one of those car nuts that won't let you get in his car with shoes on or something?" Darcy asked, with a pointed glance at Tony.

"No! The guys don't let me drive their cars because they say every car that I drive blows up!"

"Ah, Bomber," Bucky said so quietly only I could hear him.

"_Does_ every car you drive blow up?" Sam asked.

"No, silly!" She replied.

Bruce started to ask "then why won't you drive his..."

He trailed off as Steph said, "some of them just burn up without blowing up. Or get stolen. Or smashed. And Uncle Sandor's old Buick didn't even blow up the time someone actually put a bomb on it. I think it was just a little bomb though, so maybe that was all it was."

I cast a glance at Ranger who just shook his head in a way that I took to mean it wasn't just a little bomb, Steph had just been damn lucky. She was still rambling on, "oooh and there was the rocket launcher incident. That was kind of cool. And it isn't just cars I drive, sometimes it's ones I just sit in. Poor Lula's dealt with that one. Ranger too. I don't know why Ranger keeps giving me cars, truthfully."

When she seemed to wind down, no one really knew what to say, so Darcy went with, "that's a lot of cars."

"Yeah, they haven't all died, but most of them have. So I won't drive Santos's just in case; I'll just tell him I did and let him sweat it out for a week or two. He loves that thing too damn much." She's closed her eyes in thought before they flew open. She started to fly into a seated position, but Bucky and I just gently, but firmly, kept her down until she settled. "Shit, Ranger the SUV! I left it...somewhere on third!"

Ranger pulled out his phone and called, I assumed, the office.

"Pull up the SUV Steph was driving this morning, on the monitors please. Huh, really? And when was the last time you saw it on the screen? Okay, check the-" he cut off then started shaking his head. When he hung up, Steph already looked dejected. "Well, the tracker isn't working anymore, and coincidentally the men remember hearing a call out about half an hour ago. You were already with me, so they weren't worried about the call, but it was reports of a car fire on third. They're going to go check it out, let the cops know it's ours if it is."

"Son of a bitch!" Steph cried out in frustration. Then she continued in a resigned voice, "At least it was _probably_ random. I haven't been here nearly long enough to piss anyone other than good old Blake over there off, and he clearly didn't do it! And as far as we know, no stalkers yet!"

Steph was holding up crossed fingers in a way that would have been adorable if her words weren't absolutely terrifying. I looked over at Ranger and he shrugged, "might as well know what you're signing up for if you're thinking about getting involved with her."

Steph tilted her head back to look at Bucky and I, but before she could say anything too embarrassing, Bucky cut in smoothly, "hey, Steph. Me and Steve here are from Brooklyn originally. If you're new to town, where are you from?"

"Trenton, New Jersey."

"Why'd you leave?" I asked.

"Because Trenton can go fuck itself," she said with what was practically a growl of her own. I blinked in surprise as did most everyone else in the room. Steph sighed and sank further into the pillow behind her before saying, "seriously though. The area I'm from, it's called The Burg. And they couldn't handle me being an omega who worked at all, let alone as a bounty hunter. Then Joe attacked me, tried to force a bond, and everyone took his side. It was all, 'oh, Steph, I'm sure you're mistaken,' or 'are you sure you didn't ask him to bond you?' or 'Joe's a good cop, he would never do something like that,' or 'maybe if you'd just stay at home like an omega's supposed to, you wouldn't have that kind of problem.' And most of those are quotes from my mother, by the way. So, when Ranger wanted to move the company here and asked if I wanted to come with them, I figured why the hell not. Fuck Trenton; it's time to move on."

Steph's heart rate had gone way up, and she seemed agitated, shifting restlessly on the bed. So I just said the first thing that came to mind. "Yeah, fuck Trenton."

Steph stopped her fidgeting and then looked at me and started giggling. "Are you even _allowed_ to say that?"

"Truth be told, we don't really put a lot of stock into what we are or are not allowed to do around here," Tony said smoothly. "But yeah, Captain's got a mouth on him when he's not in front of cameras."

Looking over at Ranger and figuring it was time for him to get a little bit of a taste of his own medicine here, I said, "so, tell us about Rangeman, Steph."

Ranger tipped his head to me in a way that told me he thought I'd played the game well, and we all listened while Steph started describing Ranger, the building, and the Merry Men to us. When she finished, Darcy looked at her pensively and said, "sounds like a lot of alphas. We thought you were afraid of them."

"The guys are great, and no one has _ever_ pushed me in any way. Mostly they just watch out for me, and that's always nice. I'm only scared of alphas before I know I can trust them, or, you know, they attack me. Your lot of them seem fine."

With that, Steph closed her eyes and didn't seem overly eager to open them up again. Taking the hint, everyone slowly started to clear out, taking Ranger with them offering him a quiet place to work and asking him more questions about the man who spoke of the unknown drug. Between Sam and Clint, they dragged out Steph's skip. Bruce set a bottle of painkillers on the table then hustled out last telling us to have JARVIS contact him if there were any problems and promising to run tests on the skip and rush the results as best as he could.

We waited a few beats to make sure everyone really was gone before we moved. Each grabbing a chair, we moved them as close to Steph's bed as we could while still being able to comfortably sit. Settling into the chairs, Bucky leaned his head onto my shoulder, and I rested my head on top of it. For a couple minutes we just watched Steph laying there, and I let myself think about the possibilities.

Eventually with a hoarse voice, I said to Bucky, "I like her. I wonder if we even have a tiny little bit of hope of convincing her to give us a shot to woo her."

"Dunno, it's up to her, but I sure hope so."

"I know it is, Buck. I just… I want her just as much as I wanted you, and I've never wanted anything else half as much as that."

I startled when I heard Steph's voice say, "probably all you have to do is ask." When my eyes flew over to her, I saw one eye peeking a look out at us with a sly smile on her face.

"You know, I can already tell that you're going to be trouble," I said allowing a smile of my own to grace my face. "Still, what do you say, Doll? You going to let us take you out and get to know us? Maybe see if we can make something of this?"

"You guys seem pretty happy the way you are, are you sure you want to add someone else to the mix?"

"Not just anyone, Doll," Bucky said with the grin that used to charm the ladies when we were much younger men. I held my breath without realizing it, hoping it still worked just as effectively when he winked and added, "we're only interested in adding you to the mix. We've been thinking about it for a while now, but we haven't found anyone who turned our heads in the slightest. Then you came around, and I just know, it's gotta be you, Steph."

Steph studied us both carefully, as if she was trying to decide if we were serious or not. I let my earnestness show on my face, willing her to see that the truth of what Bucky said also went for me. The silence dragged on for what felt like an eternity, and I finally shifted in my seat a little uncomfortable. Maybe we'd been too pushy, since she clearly had some bad experiences in the past. I leaned back in my chair and looked down at my hands as I said, "we're not going to push you to do anything you don't want to do, Steph. If you're not interested, we'll understand."

When I looked back up, Steph was staring me straight in the eyes before she licked her lips in a way that had Bucky clamping a hand on my knee to keep me in my seat and said, "seems I'd have to be crazy not to want to at least give you two a shot. I can feel that pull too, you know!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_**Steph's POV**_

Talking about Joe had sobered me up pretty quickly, and I didn't really feel like dealing with the interrogation- even if it did seem to be a friendly one, more than it was anything else. So I faked sleep, and I must have been fairly convincing because everyone started moving around. Not that I was surprised; I _am_ an experienced sleeper. I was curious to see who would stay behind, so I stayed still and silent.

When I realized it was Steve and Bucky staying with me, without any argument from Ranger, I realized how momentous that was. I was certain the only person in the room who would know for sure that I wasn't asleep was Ranger. He'd seen me play opossum in a hospital/medical bed too many times to believe it without sitting and observing quietly for way longer than I would be able to feign sleep anyway. The fact that Ranger hadn't said a word, just allowed himself to be guided out of the room actually said A LOT.

It told me that Ranger approved of these two men, something I knew he'd never do lightly. It told me that he trusted them with my safety. And it told me that the decision here was all my own. Ranger trusted me to make it. It was one thing for me to say that I could do whatever I damn well wanted, but it was another thing to have the leader of the group that was basically all the family I had left to tell me that he supported me in whatever decision I made. And if things worked out the way I thought they might, this would be the biggest decision I made in my life. Not just for myself, but it would have lasting ramifications for my Rangeman family as well.

There had been times since Joe's attack, where I wasn't sure if I was ever going to feel comfortable or want to run the risk of allowing another alpha to get close. Then I'd been attacked by an alpha who shouldn't have been an alpha. As much as it had scared me, these two men had run onto the scene and quickly alleviated my fears. Fears not just of that moment and that attack, but larger fears that had been haunting me.

It was in the little things they had done. Making themselves appear smaller for me, even though their instincts, especially Steve's, would have been screaming at them to make themselves the big protectors at that moment. Steve immediately sending Bucky over when he'd seen how frightened I was by his Alpha-ness after the attack, even though he would have been _needing_ to know that an injured omega was okay. Allowing me to walk under my own power for as long as it had been possible, and giving me space to do so because even if they didn't understand why I was afraid, they'd still recognized that I was. They had continually put their own comforts and urges below mine.

And then there was the simple, open, honest way they'd displayed their vulnerability while asking me if I'd allow them to pursue me. I was thinking all of this as they waited for my answer. Although I knew what the right answer was and what I wanted to do, I still had to work up the courage to actually open my mouth and speak the words. Apparently taking my prolonged silence for rejection, Steve tried to gracefully and sweetly bow out. That was when I suddenly got over my speechlessness. I couldn't have stayed quiet in that moment, even if I wanted to. If they could be honest with me, then I could return the favor.

If they had been anyone else, I think that they would have given into the attraction and tried to kiss me senseless. Instead, Steve just held onto my hand, still sitting between me and the door, and Bucky pulled his chair around to the other side of the bed and gently grabbed onto my free hand. They were each holding my hand in their palm and using their thumbs to rub along the scent glands on the insides of my wrists while exuding their own soothing scent. It was comforting me in a way I couldn't remember anyone ever doing before, and as my eyes started to droop, I tried to fight it.

"That's right, Steph, rest," Steve said softly.

"We'll still be here when you wake up," reassured Bucky.

The next thing I knew, I was awakening to the sound of slightly raised voices. It was clear that they were trying to whisper, but not really succeeding. As I blinked and cleared the sleep from my eyes, I could see Steve squaring off with a man wearing a long black trench coat and an eyepatch. They were standing just a couple steps inside the door, as though the man had tried to come in and Steve had stopped him. Bucky had moved back around the table so that he was between the pair of angry alphas and me. His back was to me, but I felt like it was because he knew where I was and wanted to make sure that he knew where every possible threat to me was in the room.

Slowly and carefully so as not to startle him, I reached out and ran my hand along Bucky's arm. He didn't make any move to acknowledge me until my hand reached his. Then he tangled our fingers and locked them together, offering me silent support.

"Rogers, you and Barnes need to just forget about her! She's a liability," the man said.

"Well, _Nick_. She is far from helpless, and she's none of your business. We're not going to just forget about her, so I guess it's a good thing that you don't get to give me orders anymore. And you sure as shit will _never_ get to give Bucky orders."

The door to the room had opened and the rest of the Avengers filed in with Ranger following behind them while Steve was responding.

"Hello, Nicholas," Stark said, fully encased in his armor, "I see you're still kicking, good for you. What's not good for you is thinking that you can break into my Tower or order around anyone on this team. If you've got intel, or you'd like to make a request to use us or our resources, by all means, make an appointment, and the head of Stark Industries Global would be happy to see you. Maria Hill, you remember her, right? Well if she deems it appropriate, then she'll inform us of your request. But, since I know for a fact you don't have an appointment today, nor did you check in with security on your way in, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"You still need to learn to get with reality, Captain." The man said, not even giving anyone else an acknowledgement. "You're just as much a liability to her as she is to you."

I couldn't help the whimper that escaped my throat instinctively at the menacing way he said that. The sound clued Steve in to the fact that I was awake, and it made him immediately even more on edge. Steve stepped right into the unknown man's space and said, "I have laid my life on the line for this world, and your former organization, multiple times. For years, I didn't even try to have a life of my own. What did you do for me in exchange? You almost caused the end of the world again with your secrets and your compartmentalization. So if I've decided that I want to have a personal life in between missions, that's my right. And if I want her in it, well that's between the lady, Bucky, and me! You do not get to come here, and offer your unsolicited opinion and expect it to have any kind of impact."

"What do you even know about her, Rogers?"

"You know what, Nick. I already know more about her than I have learned about you in the years that I've known you. Now, I'm warning you again, this is none of your business. You need to get out."

Without another word, the man reached into his inside jacket pocket, pulled out and envelope and pressed it to Steve's chest. Steve reached up and grabbed it without taking his eyes off the man, and didn't move until he was out the door and the man had been out of sight for a full minute. "JARVIS," Steve said.

"He has left the building, sir," a voice said from the ceiling, causing me to roll my eyes up and search it warily. I didn't see speakers anywhere.

With that knowledge, Steve relaxed a little bit and walked back over to me. Taking in his movements, I noticed that he had changed clothes so he was no longer dirty and bloody from the fight with my skip. When Bucky moved back to the side of the bed he had originally been on, I looked and noticed he'd cleaned up as well and was no longer covered in my blood. On a counter across the way was a small pile of clothes that I could only hope were for me.

Reaching "his" chair, Steve dropped the envelope on the bed down by my legs unopened and sat down again. He studied me and asked, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm a little sore; I could go for some Tylenol or Motrin or something about now," I said. Then with a small smile, I said, "What's in the envelope? And for the record, I'm pretty sure I don't like that man."

Next to me Bucky snorted a little bit of a laugh and patted my hand. Dr. Banner moved over to a table where a pill bottle stood and shook a couple of pills out. When he handed them to me, I eyed them suspiciously. "Just ibuprofen, I promise. Sorry about earlier, I just figured if I could do something about the pain, I should."

Bucky tipped back in his chair until he could reach a mini-fridge that was off to the side and snagged a water bottle from inside. Opening it up on his way back and handing it to me. I smiled my thanks and quickly took the pills. While I was doing that, Steve answered my question, "well, I haven't looked yet, but I would guess pictures of the three of us from last night walking to the Tower."

"Last night?" I asked, watching as Natasha snagged the envelope and ripped it open. "How long was I out?"

"About 12 hours," Bucky supplied from next to me.

"Geez, I hope you didn't sit here all night!"

When neither responded, I narrowed my eyes, and Steve just shrugged with a smile. Finally he said, "we said we'd be here when you woke up, and we weren't sure when that would be."

Natasha looked up from the envelope and before she could say anything, I blurted out, "nope! Time out!" When everyone looked at me a little surprised, I said, "I am no longer hooked up to any machines, I notice. So, I want some clothes, I want the little girls room, and then we can talk about whatever is in there. Preferably somewhere that isn't this damn room!"

Without a word, Natasha closed the envelope, then started shooing all the men out of the room, including Steve and Bucky. Once they'd cleared the room, she helped me first to sit up, then swing my legs over the side of the bed, and finally to stand. She walked next to me, hands out to catch me if I fell to what I thought was a closet, but was actually a small restroom. I grumbled a little when she wouldn't let me shut the door in case I fell, but she did take a few steps away and talk loudly to me to give me some modicum of privacy.

"So, you, Rogers, and Barnes, huh?" she asked.

"Dunno, we're going to give it a go. See if it works," I said calmly, fully aware that although she was also an omega, Natasha could certainly kill me in about a second flat without alerting Steve or Bucky who were, I was sure, waiting right outside the door to the medical room. "I have high hopes though."

When I looked over, I saw that Natasha had a smile on her face, as she said, "good. I think you three will be perfect together."

"You're not going to try to warn me off?"

"I'm not, no. For one, I can smell your fear, even though you have no reason to fear me, so it would be redundant and pointless. And two, I trust you. You don't get as far as I've gotten in life, at least with the occupation and roles I've held through the years, without being a _very_ good judge of character."

"Funny, I would think you had been burned enough times that you'd be the most jaded person in the world."

"There are very few people that I don't think of as a threat, instinctively. Those I do consider a threat can still work their way into my trust, but a few of those have betrayed me. I've never been wrong about the ones that I didn't think were a threat from the beginning." She looked over as I'd moved to washing my hands, still rather aware of my topless state. "Don't give me that look, I'm not saying you can't take care of yourself. It certainly sounds like you probably can, I'm just saying… I trust you the way I have few others. You're not going to purposely hurt me or anyone on the team. Especially Steve and Bucky."

As I walked out of the bathroom, she carefully and unobtrusively continued to spot me making sure I didn't collapse. She indicated over to the clothes, and I said, "don't suppose I'm going to get a shower?"

"Probably not for a couple days with those stitches. But here, let me see what I can do to help with that blood," so saying, she dug in some cabinets until she found some sponge bath wipes, wet them at the sink, and helped me freshen up as best I could without an actual shower. It would have been embarrassing if she wasn't so nonchalant and calmly professional about it. "Yeah, we all patch each other up from time to time. Especially on the longer missions when we're camping out or stuck in some small cover place. You get used to it and a little less self conscious. Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable, I just thought you might like to not…"

"Smell like blood and look like death warmed over? Feel like a victim anymore?" I filled in the blank for her, and she gave the little half smile and small nod I was already beginning to think of as her trademark. When she finished, she switched to taping on a bandage to keep my stitches covered now that I was moving around more. "I appreciate it. I just hate feeling so weak and helpless in front of a bunch of super heroes."

"Sounds like you put up a pretty good fight, and you held him off until backup arrived. That's better than most would have done, Steph. And probably better than whoever the first woman was would have fared. If you want, I can work with you on some moves once you're healed up though. Moves that your friends might not know. You've got nothing to be ashamed of though. Now, let's get you dressed before those boys of yours bust down the door to get back to you."

"They don't seem much like boys."

"Trust me, they have their moments. And I don't want to keep them away from their new toy that they're just waiting to explore."

She said it in a manner that was not at all offensive, but was plenty suggestive, so I blushed more than a little as I quickly scrambled into the clothes. I recognized them as my own, so I knew Ranger must have gone home and gotten them for me. As I carefully got into the outfit, a black skirt, a simple button down sleeveless shirt that I wouldn't have to lift my arms to get on and off, and a clean set of underthings, Natasha commented, "those new stitches aren't going to be your only scars."

"Nope, I've had more than a few close calls of my own."

"Ever save someone's life?"

"I suppose that might depend on your definition, but yes."

"Ever take a life?"

I took a big gulp. "More than once, yes."

"Like I said, a good fit. You'll do, Plum." With that, she fixed my hair for me, redoing the ponytail to make it a little more presentable, and we walked over to the door. Natasha pulled it open, and, just as I'd expected, Steve and Bucky were hovering right outside the door.

"Hi guys," I said softly when they both caught sight of me, and we shared a private smile. Then I turned to everyone else, and added, "thanks for giving me a few minutes, everyone. I feel much better now."

As we started walking down the hall, Steve and Bucky fell into step on either side of me. We were moving more slowly than everyone else, and I whispered out of the corner of my mouth, "how much is it killing you to let me walk right now, Steve?"

Bucky laughed and Steve just shrugged, "seems important to you to walk right now. More important than what I want, so I can deal."

"I don't like feeling like a victim, so it means a lot, thanks."

We caught up to the rest of the group where they were waiting in the elevator and a few minutes later we were settling into a room that I imagined was used for friendly, informal conferences. Rather than a big table and desk chairs, there was a long coffee table with oversized, comfortable looking couches and armchairs circling it. I settled in to a couch on one end with Bucky next to me, on my left, uninjured side and Steve on his other side. For a moment, it seemed odd as they'd generally been keeping me firmly between them, until I realized that probably it _was_ best for Steve and I to get at least a little bit of a break from the alpha/omega pheromone dance.

Ranger sat in the chair immediately to my right, and as everyone else was settling in, I wiggled my bare feet at Ranger. His lips twitched as he said, "I have shoes for you, but I'm not giving them to you until Banner clears you to be up and about."

Yeah, like bare feet were going to keep me from leaving if I wanted to. I'd walk to the damn Rangeman building shoeless if I wanted to. The laughter that was suppressed to varying degrees around me let me know, I had accidentally said that out loud, so I embraced it and just stuck my tongue out at Ranger to emphasize the point of my frustration. "Plus, my toes are cold!" I said.

Apparently, Darcy had gotten wind of Ranger's plans and decided that omegas should stick together because she poked her head in a minute later. When she gathered that we weren't yet busy, she walked in and over to me. In her hands she had pairs of fluffy socks, slippers, and flip flops. I whispered my thanks to her and quickly put on the fluffy socks and the slippers before stashing the flip flops behind me and out of Ranger's reach. I was a little surprised when Darcy settled off to the side with a tablet, but no one seemed to mind, so I figured there was precedence. From what I'd seen so far, the Avengers indulged Darcy in a manner similar to the way the Merry Men did me, and it was nice to see. It was comforting as an unbonded omega to be somewhere where another felt so comfortable. It was a good sign about how I'd be treated if and when I came around.

Before we could start working, there was a knock on the door that was followed by wait staff pushing carts in front of them. They walked around passing out plates, and when they got to me, I was pleasantly surprised to see a plate filled with my favorites- boston creme donuts- and a giant mug of coffee. Not only were the donuts delicious, but the smell of them was a nice consolation prize considering that Steve was so far away. And when did three feet become unbearably far away for someone to be? I had a feeling this head over heels fall was going to come ridiculously quickly for me.

A quick look around saw everyone busying themselves with their own breakfasts, and I let out a small sigh of relief that I hadn't blurted all that out audibly. The groan I let out when I took my first bite though definitely had every head in the room whipping to me. All the men flushed and most shifted. Darcy let out a startled laugh from the corner and when I looked over she called out, "doing alright there, Steph?"

In response, I just gave her a big thumbs up. I cast a glance at Steve and Bucky who were staring at me with pupils blown wide and having gone completely still. I flushed and whispered, "sorry!"

Bucky recovered first and just said in a voice that sounded just a little strained, "no problem, Doll. We're just glad to hear that you're happy."

I smiled at him gratefully, then cleared my throat and went back to eating, doing my very best to keep the rest of my moans inside.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_**Steph's POV**_

Once I'd eaten a couple doughnuts, I realized that I really wasn't going to be able to eat anything else at the moment. Frowning at the plate, I said, "there really was no way I was going to eat that many. Why would they give me so much?"

"We just have so much to teach you, Steph." That came from Sam, and when I looked up at him, he inclined his head to the super soldiers next to me. Both had already polished off the biggest plates of eggs and breakfast meats I'd ever seen and were eyeing my plate of doughnuts eagerly. With a laugh, I slid it over on the table in front of them, telling them to knock themselves out.

Steve took a bite of one and paused thoughtfully. Once he'd swallowed he said, "you know, Steph you do have a point, these are really, really good."

I laughed softly then turned my attention to Natasha, "so, what's in the envelope?"

"Exactly what Cap guessed," she replied, carefully laying out pictures in front of her on the table. Before I could ask to see them, the table lit up and projected the images into the air in front of me.

"Holy shit, Batman. You have _got_ to get one of these," I whispered. I found myself on the receiving end of a lot of confused looks, so I just gestured absently toward Ranger and said, "he kept appearing out of thin air and just knowing when to show up, so I started calling him Batman. Obviously he isn't because Batman isn't real. I know that."

Without saying anything else, I studied the projections in front of me. I winced as I studied the images and said, "really not looking my best there."

"I dunno," Darcy provided from her corner, "you look kinda fierce lady warrior-y. Like Natasha. Though no offense, you don't look quite _as_ scary. Close though."

"I look scared," I said bluntly.

"Actually," a woman I hadn't seen before started, striding confidently into the room on heels that I would kill to have. "Because neither Steve nor Bucky looks particularly fussed, and the guy Steve is carrying is unconscious, you look like you took that man down and won a fight. At least that's what the reporters are running with. They even tracked down a woman who says you saved her from being raped by that man?"

I looked at the video that had popped up in the air in front of our couch at Pepper's words and immediately recognized the woman from the alley the day before. She was giving an interview on what looked like the Today show with a headline under her saying, "And omega makes three?"

"Great, so she can't be bothered to run and get help for me when I save her, but she'll go on TV and talk about me even though she doesn't know anything about me? Look, she's already been talking for longer than she could possibly have things to say! All she could say is, 'this woman approached the man who was attacking me, yelled for him to stop, then I ran away and that's all I know.' That's thirty seconds tops! And she's still talking!"

After that everyone started talking at once. The newcomer was saying that the reporters wanted to talk to me, and if I was interested, they'd see me whenever worked for me. Darcy and Tony were both rambling on about how it was entirely possible to spend 15 minutes on air repeating that information over and over in a bunch of different ways, especially if you made up speculative shit to increase your temporary fame like the woman I'd "saved" clearly was. And Ranger's phone had been buzzing all morning, so he was relaying questions from Mike to me.

"That's enough!" Steve called out, causing everyone to stop talking at once and oddly enough, settling me down quite a bit.

I turned first to Ranger and said, "what does Mike want?"

"Mike wants to know if that's his skip because it 'sure as hell looks like his skip' and if it is, why doesn't he have a body receipt either from the police station or the morgue?"

"Who is Mike?" this from the woman I hadn't met yet.

"He's the owner of the bail bonds shop I work for now. Ranger, tell him it is his skip, he is not dead, and he'll have his body receipt before he loses his money so he needs to chill out."

"You're allowed to kill them?" Darcy asked.

"What? No. Well, I mean, self-defense and stuff applies. But sometimes they don't show up to court because they're dead and then you have to bring the court proof that they are in fact dead. It's a huge hassle. I've actually brought dead bodies to the police station in Trenton before to try to trick them into just giving me a body receipt there. Usually they didn't let me get away with that."

"Gross," was Darcy's quiet response.

"Seriously." I retorted. Then I added, "though not as bad as the time someone left a dead body on my couch. And yes, I know you and Tony are right about people who want fame being able to ramble forever, but that doesn't mean I have to like it! Especially when it is at my own expense and they keep that damn picture up the whole time. Could they not have found a better one?! One where I look a little less like a psychotic drowned rat, for instance."

Finally I turned to the woman who had entered the room last. I carefully stood and walked over to her. I held out my hand and said, "Hi, I'm Stephanie Plum. It's nice to meet you. I'm not sure who you are, but judging by your totally awesome shoes, I'm going to guess that you're important. Possibly even Pepper Potts?" She inclined her head and I said, "I would really, really, really love nothing more than to not have to talk to any of those people. On a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being no obligation and 10 being I absolutely must, where does this fall?"

"Yes, I'm Pepper, it's nice to meet you. Why don't you go sit back down because… actually, you look pretty healthy considering you looked like that yesterday evening, but Steve and Bucky are looking a little like they're going to rip my head off for 'making you get up,' and we should probably work together to figure out where this falls on that scale you mentioned."

I slowly made my way back toward the couch with my guys on it, and sat back down. Now that the excitement of food, coffee, and being allowed to sit up had worn off, I was having a difficult time getting comfortable. Bucky just eased my only minorly injured (because it was really just a deep scratch on the outside) left arm so it would be behind him and not pressing into anything then coaxed me into reclining against him. I laid my head in the juncture of his arm and chest and relaxed into him. He draped his arm delicately along my neck and shoulders then down my right arm, careful to avoid putting any pressure on my stitches.

Pepper had settled in on Tony's lap and said, "okay, so I can play the videos, but I figured it was easiest just to recap." Tony snickered and Pepper just rolled her eyes, "pun not intended."

There was a resounding chorus of "recap please."

"Okay, so they have that woman- her name is Rebecca Kane, by the way- on talking about how you ran in and saved her. As you pointed out, she doesn't have much to actually say, but that isn't stopping her from rehashing the same points over and over, and at this point, making some things up. Also making things up, are the reporters. Now they've talked to numerous people who you all passed on the street and have confirmed that the man, who they have yet to identify, was, indeed, unconscious. They've also pretty unanimously confirmed that you're an omega, and since Steve and Bucky are alpha and beta, there is speculation."

"Okay," I said, only to have Pepper apologetically interrupt.

"There's something else," she actually licked her lips and seemed a little nervous. I may not know the woman yet, but I was pretty sure that almost never happened, so I felt my own anxiety increase.

"Just say it, whatever it is, you're freaking her out," Natasha said calmly.

"I got a call from one of the networks, which is why I decided to cancel my meeting and crash this party. They're running with the story but were just giving us fair warning in the hopes of remaining on our good side. They have your name."

"How?"

"Yeah, uh… someone named Joe Morelli called them, and he's saying he's your alpha among other things. Apparently, the way he spoke to the omega who answered the phone scared her pretty bad, so their station isn't going to run with his name or his claims. But they are going to run with your name."

As soon as she said Joe's name, I started panicking and trying to burrow into Bucky's side. Like actually trying to tunnel my way into him or something. I could hear Bucky trying to get me to stop, and smell everyone trying to offer me comforting scents. When that didn't work, I heard Steve and Ranger exchanging curt, harsh words before Steve came around Bucky and squatted in front of me. Firmly, and with a decent dose of alpha command, Steve placed a grounding grasp on my knee and said, "Steph, stop."

Instantly, I stopped what I was doing and went still. I turned my eyes, which I was sure showed more than a little of that fear still to Steve, and he let out a relieved breath. "I'm sorry, Steph. You were going to hurt yourself. You're okay, you're safe."

Letting out one more whimper that I would look back on and cringe about later, I scrambled off the couch and onto Steve's lap. Steve wrapped me up in a comforting hug while I shamelessly nuzzled my nose into the scent gland on his neck breathing in the sweet smell that was uniquely for me, combined with his alphaness and the protectiveness he was giving off in full force. When I'd settled enough to realize that what I was doing was outrageously forward, I pulled back and hastily got back onto my seat on the couch, looking down at my hands in my lap. "Sorry," I whispered.

This time when he spoke, he carefully took the command back out of his voice and he tilted my chin up with one hand until I was looking him in the eyes. "Steph, it's okay. Bucky and I want you to feel comfortable with us. We will give you whatever you need, okay?" Seeing his sincerity and not even a hint of reservations or anger, I nodded and resumed my previous position relaxed back into Bucky. Instead of going back to his seat, Steve hesitantly reached toward my shirt and said, "can I check to see if you ripped your stitches?"

The knife wound ran from low on the side of my right breast almost all the way down to my hip. Really, I guess it was wounds, plural, as it hadn't been one clean cut. Regardless, Steve had to unbutton my shirt and pull that half open to get a good look. The bandages Natasha had put on me wrapped around my torso, so even though I couldn't wear a bra, I was covered up at least a little. I watched as his fingers ran carefully along the gauze, pressing in so softly that I could barely feel it but he would be able to tell if the wound had opened and was bleeding again. I could feel Bucky stroking my hair while he strained his neck to be able to see and follow along while Steve worked. Once he was satisfied, Steve quickly buttoned my shirt back up and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"I'm sorry I used my alpha voice on you. We were all worried that you were hurting yourself, and Ranger seemed to think it would calm you down rather than freak you out more."

I didn't really want to get into it or examine why that was true in less than a day or how Ranger knew it, so I just said, "it's fine. It helped. Thank you."

"Okay," Steve said before going back to Bucky's other side, taking a few deep breaths, and telling JARVIS to let the others know they could come back in.

Bucky kept stroking my hair, and no one said anything as they settled back into their seats.

"Ranger gave us a little bit of a background on the situation, Steph, and I think we'll call it a one today. You haven't known anyone here very long yet, but reporters would still ask you questions that would probably make you feel uncomfortable and awkward. Questions about your past are probably not going to go over well so close to yesterday's unrelated attack, and having your name and face everywhere isn't going to help with your bounty hunting. Does that about sum it up?"

"Yes," I said. It made me a little uneasy to know that everyone now knew even more of my business, but that was ultimately outweighed by how glad I was that Ranger had spared me from having to explain the details myself. I just didn't have it in me.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go back to my office and draft up statements for Steve, Bucky, and the team. I'll draft one for you to read over as well. You can use it, write your own, or not release a statement at all. If you decide to put one out there, you can use your own channels or we'd be happy to distribute it for you. For the record, I think releasing short, simple statements will make this blow over relatively quickly. I know you have more to discuss, so I'll leave you to it."

For the better part of the next hour, we went through what we knew about Peterson so far which wasn't a ton. Bruce's bloodwork came back and there were some irregularities in the sample that seemed to be caused by a drug, but it wasn't one Bruce had seen before. Bruce, Tony, JARVIS, and it seemed Darcy, had all been searching for matches and so far came back with nothing. JARVIS added that his biometric readings seemed to indicate that as the drug degraded, Blake had moved back to being a beta from an alpha.

Ranger had slipped me my Rangeman laptop, and I twisted around so that my back was fully leaning against Bucky and I was sideways in my seat with my feet dangling over the armrest as I reviewed my notes.

Once I'd started taking my bounty hunting more seriously, I'd made a point of copiously documenting my research stage, as well as as many details as I could remember after my stakeout shifts. I was looking at my stakeout notes in particular, when I had an idea.

"JARVIS?" I asked, unsure of whether or not he would take commands from me.

"Yes, Stephanie?"

"Can you show me a map of Manhattan with the following addresses highlighted?" I asked before listing off everywhere I'd seen Peterson disappear or magically reappear over the week I'd studied him before my confrontation with him. The data was instantly displayed, and I said, "That's handy. I suspect you'll be able to grab this information faster than me, so if you don't mind, can you find out who owns all of those buildings?"

He didn't respond, but I figured he was probably working on it, so I said to the room at large, "these are places I saw him enter or exit a building while I was doing surveillance. What do you think the odds are that those buildings are connected in some way?"

Clint and Natasha had started manipulating the map in front of them as soon as JARVIS had put a copy up for everyone. They were using complicated hand gestures that made it appear three dimensional. From the other side of Bucky, Steve asked, "may I?" indicating the map in front of us. I nodded enthusiastically and set my laptop to the side for the time being while turning onto my side again and watching as Bucky and Steve put various overlays on the map.

Rather than focusing on the above ground, they were focused below. They had maps of sewers, the subway, various utilities. The more data they added in, the more clear it became that the area immediately under the buildings I'd highlighted was mostly empty. Everyone had stopped to watch what they were doing, occasionally calling out various additional details or commands, and when I looked over at Ranger, he was watching me with a look of pride on his face.

Tony spoke up, "JARVIS, do you have the information on the building owners yet?"

"I'm still searching, sir," JARVIS sounded almost apologetic as he said it, "each building seems to be routed through a unique set of shell corporations. Each set is different and vast. I am working to find a common connection, but it will take some time. I can tell you that the manner in which these corporations are all connected seems to be similar."

"How similar?" I asked.

"Current probability is 70% and increasing that they will trace back to the same organization or individual in the end."

The space was mostly empty under the building, but some utilities were still seemingly going through it, so I asked, "JARVIS. I don't know how many things you can do at once, but I'm wondering if there are archival records we can use for these utilities that are going through that empty space. See if there are any discrepancies."

"Why do you want to know that?" Darcy asked curiously.

I shrugged even though she couldn't see me.

It was Ranger who said, "she thinks they hacked the records to make it less obvious that they have some kind of hidden complex."

"It's just a thought," I mumbled.

From where they were sitting together, Clint and Natasha said at the same time, "it's a good thought."

Tony gave them a look, and Clint shrugged and elaborated, "SHIELD used to do that all the time for various things, big and small."

No one said anything to that because, well, what could you really say to that? As the conversation continued around me, I felt myself being slowly pulled back into the land of sleeping. Apparently excessive blood loss could really catch up to you and make you tired because that was the only possible explanation for the fact that I fell back asleep even though I'd woken up not all that long ago from a solid 12 hours down the night before.

When I awoke, I was instantly confused. I immediately knew I was still pressed up against Bucky, but instead of my legs being curled up into the side of a couch or draped over the end of it, they were easily stretched out to full length. Another moment to take in my surroundings had me realizing that the couch itself was different and my environment smelled way better than before I'd fallen asleep. Instead of smelling like a somewhat sterile office environment, heavy on the cleaning materials and air filtration system it smelled… predominantly like Bucky and Steve.

I would say I was about 80 percent excited that they'd let me into their space, and about 20 percent freaked out by finding myself unexpectedly in an alpha's domain. Even if the alpha was Captain America and probably the most trustworthy person on the planet.

Obviously sensing that 20 percent... Which, okay, maybe it was more of a 70 percent/30 percent split so he was smelling the 30 percent freaked out, Bucky went still and crooned softly, "it's okay, Doll. Steve's not here." I relaxed at that because, okay, maybe I'd been 60 percent excited and 40 percent afraid, but that was it! I'd definitely been more excited than afraid. "There you go, Steph. I gotcha; ain't gonna hurt ya."

I blew out a breath, "sorry. I don't mean to be so... Jumpy... Or maybe fragile?"

"It's nothing to be sorry about, Steph. Even if you didn't have the past you have, it would be a normal reaction for an omega."

I hummed noncommittally, unwilling to concede the point even though I thought he might be right. "How'd I get here?"

"You took the super alpha express. Truth be told, Bruce was surprised you had been able to get up, clean up, and make it to the conference room, let alone be up and going for as long as you were. We needed to give the room back to Stark Industries, and Ranger needed to get back to the office. You seemed comfortable with me, so we thought if we moved you somewhere you could stretch out for a bit, and I stayed with you, you might get a bit more rest. Steve was worried about how you'd react if you woke up in his space with him here, so he left after he made sure you were comfortable."

"I feel bad for running him off," I said scrubbing my hands over my face. "And using you as my personal pillow- no matter how comfortable you are. You probably didn't get much sleep last night, and now you've been stuck here babysitting me when you probably could be doing dozens of other things."

"Sure, there are hundreds of things I _could_ be doing, Steph. But there's nothing else I'd _rather_ be doing, Steph. Well, there are very few things at least, and most of them involve you anyway." Bucky said the last bit playfully wiggling his brows with a big smile on his face.

When I started squirming a little where I was reclined against him, Bucky helped me shift to standing then pointed me to a restroom. I quickly used the facilities, only allowing myself to get slightly distracted by the elegant comfort of the room. As I washed my hands, I noticed an unopened toothbrush and a similarly still sealed travel sized tube of toothpaste. Next to both was a white rose, propped up on a handmade little card. On the outside of the card was written, "to new beginnings."

On the inside was a somewhat simple sketch. There was a circle almost like Steve's shield except vertically split down the middle. To the left, the circle was silver with plates that looked by Bucky's arm while the right half was the red white and blue concentric circles of Steve's iconic shield. The star in the middle was missing, and in its place was a little cartoon bomb with a lit fuse- the left side was red like the star on Bucky's arm would have been and the right half was white like the center star on Steve's shield. For something that probably didn't take very long to make, it made me ridiculously happy, so I studied it for a while while twirling the de-thorned rose in my fingers. For some reason, I brought the card to my nose and sniffed it, confirming my suspicion that it had only Steve's scent on it. Wanting to keep both with me, I slipped the card gently into one of the pockets on my skirt and tucked the rose in my ear.

Realizing I had now been in the bathroom for longer than intended, I quickly brushed my teeth and tried to tame my hair again. As I opened the door, I realized Steve was back but didn't feel any of the anxiety I had earlier. Instead, I felt content, which turned to joyful when he looked up, flicked his gaze to the rose in my hair, and grinned like a little kid who'd just won the grand prize at a carnival. Unable to keep from returning the smile, I took it one small step further by walking up to him and using a hand on his arm to pull us level so I could brush a kiss on his cheek and whisper my thanks in his ear.

When he actually blushed, I gigged, and when Bucky pouted and asked how long a guy had to be a pillow before he got a thanks like that, I wandered over and gave him a kiss on the cheek as well. Like a total ham, he clutched at his chest in response and flopped backwards into the couch, pretending to be struck down by love. I laughed at him then picked the throw pillow up with my better arm and lightly tossed it at him. Of course he easily smacked it out of the air before it hit him, only to blink in surprise when the pillow popped, shedding its stuffing everywhere at the contact with his metal arm.

My body put up a good attempt at a laughing fit at the look on his face, only to be thwarted by my injury. What resulted was alternated laughing and groaning, with me doubled over and holding onto my side. I felt Steve's concerned presence come up behind me before he knelt down next to me and ran a hand down my back.

"You okay, Doll?" Steve asked sounding concerned. I let him guide me into the kitchen to a chair as I tried to reassure him I was fine.

"Yes," I responded. "Just pulled a little, but not too bad. It actually weirdly felt almost like when you've had stitches too long, you know? Oh, who am I kidding? Neither of you know what I'm talking about, you probably don't even bother with stitches anymore."

Steve and Bucky shared a look between them before Bucky said, "well, you slept right through lunch. Let's have a bite to eat and then take a look, okay. Maybe at the actual stitches instead of just feeling through the gauze this time, okay? Should probably change the dressing on it anyway."

"Sure," I said. When Steve set a meatball sub in front of me I groaned again before I could stop myself. "If you guys keep bringing in all my favorites, you may never get me to leave."

"What makes you think that isn't the plan, Doll?" Bucky asked, happily digging into the sandwich Steve had put in front of him as well.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_**Bucky's POV**_

Spending the day with Steph sleeping on me was the most delicious torture in the world. And I would know, I'd been subject to pretty much every kind possible at one point or another. As soon as she'd awoken, it had been clear that Steve's caution had not been misplaced. Steph had been a bit scared, but she'd also shaken it off pretty quickly.

While she used the restroom, I dashed into the master bath to do the same, asking JARVIS to let Steve know Steph was up. Steve was sticking his head back into the apartment just as I made it back to the living room, looking around.

I gestured for him to come in, and indicated that she was in the bathroom off the entry. Following Steve into the kitchen, I watched as he warmed up three meatball subs.

"She okay being here? Because if she's not entirely comfortable being here, she's almost certainly not going to be comfortable with _me_ being here. I can leave the food and go, if that'd be better."

I brushed up against him to try to soothe his fears a little as I said, "she was nervous when she woke up, like you expected. She's fine now though. Didn't take her long to shake it off at all. I think she likes you."

Steve gave me a shove for my teasing, so I walked back into the living room to leave him finishing putting the sandwiches on plates and heating them up. He wandered back out of the kitchen a few moments later and leaned against a wall of the living room.

"Wonder what's taking so long," he said.

I huffed out a breath and pointedly replied, "please _never_ ask her that."

"Yeah, thanks Buck. I may not be as good as you at sweet talkin', but even I know that! I just meant... what if she fell and hurt herself or something."

"JARVIS would tell us. She probably just got distracted by whatever it was you left in there for her."

Steve's smirk told me he knew full well that I may be better with words a lot of the time, but he was usually better with gestures. When Steph came out wearing a rose AND giving Steve a kiss on the cheek, I thought he was going to explode with his very obvious happiness. It was a happiness that only seemed to grow when I got a kiss of my own as well.

Of course, it morphed into concerned panic at the idea that she could have hurt herself laughing, but I was impressed by his ability to reel it in long enough for Steph to eat. What I wasn't expecting was for him to hold it back long enough to tackle the next agenda item that had been on our list. Though since it would probably make her more comfortable here, and she was going to have to expose a lot of herself again for us to see her stitches, it was probably a good tactical move.

After he cleared the plates into the kitchen, Steve said, "okay Steph, there's a couple things we wanted to show you really quickly, alright?"

When Steph nodded her head, I took my cue to walk to the front door and open it saying, "this is the front door. It will always open for you from either side. If you're here, and you get scared or uncomfortable, you can leave- you will never find it locked and inhibiting your exit. If you want to get in because you're scared, need a safe place, feel lonely, whatever, JARVIS knows you now and will make sure your way is cleared from the second you enter the Tower lobby. Even if we're not home, you will be able to get in and do whatever you want. Free reign. If you don't want anyone other than us to know you're here, just tell JARVIS and he'll make it so, alright?"

"Wow," Steph said looking absolutely floored by the invitation. "Thanks, I promise not to take advantage."

"That's the point Doll, we _want_ you here as much as you feel comfortable. We _want_ you to take advantage," I replied.

Steve cleared his throat and then gestured for us to follow him down the hallway directly opposite the one that headed to our master bedroom. He started explaining, "we've never had an omega around, though we'd hoped to find someone one day. There was never anyone who even made us look twice before you. Still, we were hopeful, so we asked Tony to make this for us. The other omegas in the Tower know it is here in case they need it, but there's another outside the apartment, just like on every other floor, so it's never been used."

He rubbed his neck awkwardly as Steph studied the door. Given what she'd explained of the setup Ranger and his men had in their building to accommodate her, it didn't take her long to figure out what it was and open the door. Carefully she stepped in, and I explained, "when there's no one in there, especially no one in heat, JARVIS treats it like any other door. But if you go in there and shut it, no one but you or another omega can open it unless it is a medical emergency."

Steve and I leaned on the door frame, staying outside to give her the understanding that we considered this her space. We watched as she walked around the room, taking in the set-up. We'd read a lot, asked the omegas we know about their preferences, and put a lot of effort into making sure that everything was as soft and comfortable as it could be. When she reached the large chest at the end of the bed, she raised her brow.

Licking my lips nervously, knowing Steve would probably blunder this explanation if he tried to provide it, I said, "we've been told that some omegas are more comfortable with certain people's scents around them. We didn't want to be too forward or have this place smell like us if you didn't want it to, especially since we don't have any right to do so. Still, we wanted it to be an option if you wanted it, so while you were sleeping, Steve put that in there with, you know, a few of our clothes and some linens and pillows and stuff that smell like us. It's sealed, so the scent shouldn't leak out. Just... there if you want it..."

I mentally winced as I trailed off somewhat lamely, but Steve's hand shot out and grabbed onto my shoulder hard when Steph smiled coyly, then cracked the chest open just enough to get a small whiff of the scents. She quickly shut it, but looked over and said, "that's very thoughtful. Again, thank you."

With what sounded like a great deal of effort, Steve cleared his throat and said, "there's a bathroom through there." Gesturing to one of the doors.

She stepped in and paused in the threshold. Turning back to us with eyes wide, she blurted out, "Holy crap, have you seen this bathroom? It's like one of the Seven Wonders or something, definitely knocks one of them out of contention."

So saying, she moved further in and out of sight. Looking over, I saw the look of puffed up pride in Steve's face, and gave him a little shove. I was pretty sure I had a matching look on my face though because we'd both worked so hard on designing and setting up the room. We could hear Steph opening the various cabinets, and the pause that I could only assume meant she had gotten to the one that was filled with unopened intimate products that would help her see herself through a heat. Steve and I shifted a little uncomfortably, and I was sure he was trying just as desperately as I was not to envision _that_ at the moment. Neither of us wanted to scare her off with the reaction dwelling on those mental images would cause.

We heard that cabinet close, and she resumed going through the rest. In certain situations, it might seem like rude behavior, but I took it as a sign that she considered it possible, maybe even likely, that she would use the room at some point and wanted to know what was available and what she'd need to acquire. When she finally came back out of the bathroom, she smiled and said, "seriously, that place is heaven."

We watched as she circled the room again, and from his spot in the doorway, Steve gestured at the dresser and the closet. "Please feel free to bring some things by and leave them if you want. And if there's anything you want stocked in here that we don't have, let us know. Or just ask JARVIS or one of the other omegas if you don't feel comfortable asking us and they'll see that it gets delivered. And there's a pantry there with just some basics in it, but we can order whatever you like to eat that's sealed and such."

"You know, I feel pretty confident you aren't going to drug me, but I do get a bit more paranoid at certain times, so I appreciate that."

As she'd come to a stop in front of us, we pushed off of our spots, and started walking back toward the living room, indicating the extra guest room and library along the way. When we made it back out to the main living space, we pointed down the other hallway and let her know that our bedroom was at the end, with a study and an art studio as well. Then we settled her back down onto a chair in the kitchen, but facing away from the table.

Squatting in front of her patiently, I said, "Steph, can we please look at the stitches?" When she nodded her head, I clarified, "We're going to need to take the wrapping off, so if you'd rather, we can take you back to Bruce or ask Natasha to take a look. Or we can take you back to Rangeman, I know Ranger said there's a medic on staff there."

She shifted a little nervously but ultimately said, "no, it's fine. I trust you both. Just maybe try not to stare? I'm not going to begrudge you any side peeks or anything, but you know…"

"That's fine, Steph. Not that we're not interested in that at some point, but today we're really just concerned about making sure you're okay," I placated.

"You know what?" Steve said, standing up abruptly and pulling me to my feet. "Steph, Doll, are you feeling okay enough to get the shirt and the wrapping off yourself?"

Steph nodded slowly, a little uneasy at the sudden movements. Undeterred, Steve walked into the living room and grabbed the blanket that was laying on the back of the couch but we never really used. He handed it to Steph and said, "Bucky and I are going to go over there and give you some privacy. Why don't you try to get everything unwrapped yourself, and then you can cover up with that in the front, okay?"

When Steph nodded, Steve laid the blanket on her lap and then we turned our backs and walked to the living room, looking out at the city at an angle where we wouldn't see anything in a reflection. We could hear rustling, and some indrawn breaths, but nothing too alarming until Steph whispered, "what the hell?"

I started to turn, but Steve just grabbed my arm and held me in place while calling out, "everything okay Steph?"

"I mean, I don't really know? That's not normal… yeah, can you come take a look at this?"

She sounded more than a little confused. But I didn't realize she was also distracted until we turned around and froze. Apparently whatever she was looking at on her side was sufficient enough that she forgot all about covering herself up, so we were greeted with a full frontal view that gave us both pause. Shaking it off, I elbowed Steve as I cautiously moved forward. As soon as I saw what had happened, I cursed a little to myself.

"JARVIS, can you ask Banner if we can bring Steph down again in a few minutes?" Steve asked quickly while already on the move. "Tell him he's going to need to take the stitches out now."

Steph was looking at me with wide eyes, and I moved to her side to quickly unwrap the bandage on her arm. Her skin _had_ completely covered the stitches there. When she looked at me with questions in her eyes, I blew out a breath and kissed her on the nose. "I don't know, Steph. Could just be a fluke? Certainly was much slower than I heal given that nothing seemed out of the norm this morning when Bruce looked everything over before you woke up. Or presumably when Natasha helped you clean up."

Steve walked back in with an oversized shirt of his in his hands that he helped Steph drape on herself backwards. Steph was nibbling on her lip nervously as she asked, "is Bruce going to want to run a bunch of tests?"

"Probably, Doll." I could scent her anxiety picking up a little as she looked apprehensively at Steve. I made a hopefully reassuring noise as I rubbed her back, "you want to call Ranger?"

"Steph, can you look at me for a second?" When Steph looked at him, Steve smiled and said, "you can have whatever you want, okay?"

Steph looked relieved, as she asked, "may I have my phone so I can see if Ranger can come by and be there while Bruce runs whatever tests?" Steve was already handing her the phone, and simply nodded when she asked, "can he bring the Rangeman medic with him?"

"That's not a problem, Steph," I assured her. Taking note of Steve's confident smile, I raised a brow and asked him, "what?"

He just put his finger to his lips and told me to shush while we all walked out of the apartment and to the elevator. As a rule, Steve and I generally made a point to intentionally NOT listen to other people's phone conversations. It was easy to do if we didn't make the effort to avoid it, and I figured Steph deserved privacy, so I spent some time asking Steve about whether or not the team had found anything else while Steph was sleeping. That of course caused him to call me out on the fact that I had fallen asleep as well , but I really didn't think anyone could blame me for doing so. It had been so comfortable sitting on the couch with Steph curled up into me. And I really hadn't gotten that much sleep the night before sitting by Steph's medical bed. Granted, I didn't require much sleep, but still.

By the time we made it downstairs, Steph was off the phone and she poked at Steve's stomach playfully. "You sneak. You'd already told Ranger to grab Bobby and swing by when he could. You called while you were getting me a shirt. Why am I not in my own shirt, by the way?"

"I just figured a looser shirt would be easier for Banner to work with," Steve said. "And maybe it would spare you having to wear a hospital gown again so soon."

"And the fact that it smells like you?" Steph asked with feigned sharpness.

"Just a bonus," Steve said, giving Steph and I both a playfully outrageous wink.

_**Ranger's POV**_

When my phone rang, I answered it automatically without reading the display. Hearing Steve Rogers's voice telling me that Steph's stitches had over healed was not something I was expecting, and I wasn't happy to hear it. Without an explanation, though I felt sure most of the men had figured out who the call was concerning, I called for Bobby to meet me in the garage. I stopped by Ella's apartment long enough to pick up the little care package she'd put together for Steph.

As I climbed into my Cayenne, Bobby was slipping into the passenger seat, medical bag at his feet.

"You probably won't need that, they seem to have a good setup, and I have a feeling you'll be relegated for the most part to observation."

"So, we've all figured out where she is. It wasn't too difficult once the news stories started, but there's more, isn't there?" I stayed silent, and Bobby finally said with more than a hint of exasperation, "damnit, Boss! I'm going to find out in a minute at the rate you're driving anyway, and I'd rather have some clue what I'm walking into."

Knowing he was right, I sighed and slowed my speed a little to give us some more time. "I mean, the news kinda has it right except for the fact that Steph just met everyone there."

"The news is saying she's _their_ omega."

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure she's going to be. Very soon in all likelihood." Bobby started telegraphing anger and protectiveness that had me instantly glad he'd pushed me to tell him before we were there with everyone else. "Look, Bobby. They respect her, they're treating her like a queen already, and she's _very_ interested. You know they're good men, and I can already tell that they'd do anything to keep her safe. They were both standing guard over her pretty much constantly every time I saw the three together. Just keep an open mind until you meet them. And remember, if you challenge Captain America on this, it's his right to fight you over that."

"Don't think that will stop me from getting her away from them if they treat her wrong."

"I know, and I would help you, but we aren't going to need to. You'll see."

We pulled up to the parking garage and this time I was cleared through instantly and directed to a different section of the garage. When we got there, I saw Darcy standing there nervously, and when Bobby looked at her appreciatively, I let out a warning growl.

"Alright, dibs acknowledged. I will back off, Ranger; I read you loud and clear." Still, I slowly got out of the car, nodding at Darcy as I grabbed the bag for Steph out of the back of the car.

"Hi, Darcy Lewis," Darcy said sticking her hand out, and Bobby eyed me warily before taking it and introducing himself. "Hey Ranger," Darcy added with a friendly smile.

When we made it into the elevator, I returned the smile. Then with a smirk knowing he'd have no time to soak it in or yell at me for being rash, I said, "oh, and the blood Steph got yesterday was a direct transfusion from the Winter Soldier because they didn't have any of her type available and he's a match. You're here because it seems to have possibly affected her."

I finished as the doors opened and quickly strode out.

"Are you kidding me?" Bobby hissed at me, "did they do that to her without consent?"

"She was unconscious- from blood loss, I might add- so I consented on her behalf. Would you rather she go without?"

"No, of course not," Bobby finally said.

"Well then, there you go. The Captain asked us to come because he thought Steph would be more comfortable with us here, and then while I was grabbing the things for her, Steph called and asked for us to come."

As we entered the room in front of which Darcy stopped, I was surprised to see that both the alpha and beta seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. Of course, Steph appeared to be wearing one of their shirts, so I could only assume the facts that she was wearing their scent and that the three had likely reached some sort of understanding amongst themselves were only helping. When she looked over and caught sight of us, a smile lit up Steph's face, "Ranger! Bobby! You gotta see this!"

Bobby, hesitated, taking his cue from me and waiting for Steve to nod his head before moving forward. Steph had a death grip on the Winter Soldier's metal hand as Banner worked on her side. A quick glance showed that her skin had mostly grown over the stitches already, so Banner was having to work quickly, sometimes making a small incision in order to get to the next length of suture and pull it out. After a quick consult, Bobby put on some gloves and started working from the other side of the table at the other end of the injury.

"That hurt?" I asked Steph.

She eyed Steve warily then shrugged, causing Steve to sigh and say, "I'm really sorry, Steph. And Bruce."

"It's my fault," Bruce said from where he was working, "I should have warned you that I was going to have to cut her. And The Other Guy didn't quite come out to play, so no harm done."

I frowned a little, hoping that didn't mean what I thought it did. Steph obviously understood that I was worrying anew over this match because she said, "it's fine. Bucky had me out of the way and behind a Hulk-proof door before I could blink and we stayed there until Bruce had everything under control. That's why we're only just getting started though. And yes, in answer to your question, it does hurt a little, but not too bad. Not nearly as bad as it did yesterday."

"Then why are you trying to crush that poor man's hand?"

"To see if I can?" Steph said, "Also because I don't like blood, and it feels weird. So that's giving me something else to focus on. And better the metal hand than the flesh."

"You couldn't hurt the other one either," Barnes said. It wasn't a boast, just a statement of fact.

"Well, better safe than sorry. Plus, if I broke it and Bruce had to set it, then he'd have to stop what he's working on and this whole thing would take longer."

Barnes just chuckled and patted her head softly with his free hand. With Banner and Bobby working together, it didn't take long for them to have all the stitches out. Steph healed over the small, fresh slices quickly, and she was left with the impressive scar she'd expected.

"Think the scar will stick around?" she asked, eyes roaming between Rogers, Barnes, and Banner.

Banner just shrugged, "honestly, Steph. I have no idea. Cap would have healed the type of injury you had, even deeper than yours, in about two or three hours. It might have taken Barnes a bit longer but not by much. And Barnes does have a few scars. But when I checked on you early this morning, you weren't showing any signs of accelerated healing yet, and I don't know why there would be that kind of delay. I have literally no clue what to expect with you. We don't know exactly what serums Barnes has, and there's the fact that he's male and you're female and he's beta and you're omega. There's enough differences in your biological chemistry that even if you were given the exact same serum or serums as Barnes and every other aspect of their introduction was exactly the same, which it wasn't, that could still be enough to give you different results from him."

Barnes looked about ready to cry or apologize to Steph or something, but she just shrugged and said, "Well, I've never been anything but unique. Why stop now?"

For the next couple of hours, Banner and Bobby ran Steph through a whole host of tests, and nothing else about her seemed to have really changed. However, given the delay in the healing factor working on her, no one was sure that would stay the same. After taking the bag I'd brought for her, Steph stepped into a bathroom off the gym they'd been testing her in. About ten minutes later, she stepped back out, freshly showered and in the clothes I'd brought her.

When she asked for some privacy with Steve and Bucky, we stepped into the hall and waited. Bobby and Banner were discussing a testing schedule and what should be done with Steph in various situations. For the most part, they agreed that whenever possible if she was injured from here out, she should be brought to the Tower for treatment. I said nothing, just observed the two collaborating as well as the rest of the Avengers who were standing off a ways. Darcy had excused herself after delivering us when we first arrived, and I hadn't seen her since. I knew there would be time for that later.

When the door to the gym opened again, everyone stopped and looked up. She'd tried her best to cover it, but Steph definitely looked more than a little mussed. She and the two men with her seemed a little more subdued and a little less happy, but she resolutely walked up to Bobby and I. "Can I catch a ride back with you?"

Looking over her shoulder at Rogers and Barnes, I noticed that they didn't seem angry about it as I nodded my head and pushed off the wall. We walked to the elevator alone without another word, and once we got inside, Steph leaned against the wall a little. In the enclosed space, it was impossible not to smell the way the alpha and beta scents were heavily clinging to Steph. Bobby caught my eye and smirked, and I just shook my head.

When we got to the car, Bobby climbed in back so Steph could have the front seat. Once we were finally on the road back to Rangeman I said, "so, I'll set up some badges for the two of them then? I assume we'll be seeing them soon?"

"I'm going to meet them at the Tower at the end of the day tomorrow, but if you have some badges I could give them before I leave for the day so they don't get hassled if and when they show up, I'd appreciate it. I just figure it's early, and I'll try to keep them away until everyone at Rangeman gets used to the idea. I do _not_ need that fight happening."

From the back seat, Bobby said, "Steph, if they make you happy, everyone will accept that."

"Well, I know it's soon, but they really do."

"Okay then, Ranger and I will make sure no one causes any problems."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Fluffy interlude, anyone?

* * *

**Chapter 8**

_**Steph's POV**_

When we finally finished up every test Bruce, Bobby, or anyone else on the team could think of, I was tired, sore, and exhausted. But at least my side was completely healed, and that meant I could take a shower. I was given a bag by Ranger that had fresh clothes as well as my preferred body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and other assorted items. I was also given access to a small bathroom off the gym. Knowing everyone was waiting for me outside, I didn't take the time to luxuriate in it as I wanted to. Instead, I powered through and promised myself I could have a long soak in my bathtub later.

Opening the door, I caught sight of Steve and Bucky and knew we needed to discuss a few things, so I asked for a few minutes of privacy. Once everyone had cleared out, I settled onto one of the weight benches and waited while Steve and Bucky settled in on one directly across from me.

"Why do you look so guilty, Bucky?" I asked, establishing and maintaining eye contact.

"It's my fault this happened to you," he said petulantly.

"Okay," I said, reaching across the narrow gap between benches to hold his hands in mine. "Let me tell you what I know. First of all, Ranger made that call, so if anyone was going to blame anyone, it'd be him. Second of all, it was the right call. I'd lost too much blood, and even if Tony and Bruce could have somehow gotten blood within 10 minutes, my body would have probably spent those ten minutes shutting down organs one by one. There could have been damage to my heart, my kidneys, my brain- anything really. So what you did very possibly saved my life. I appreciate the fact that you were willing, both of you, to help me out that way when, the way I see it, your blood is probably more valuable than gold."

I cut my eyes over to Steve to make sure he knew that I was aware and appreciative of his offer that had matched Bucky's. When Bucky seemed about to argue, Steve cut in, "Buck. We've both seen war; you know she's right."

"And hey," I added. "So far it seems like the only thing you have to be sorry for is the decreased likelihood of me needing more blood transfusions in the future. And that's not so bad. Plus, I don't know if Ranger told you, but I'm like the world's worst hospital patient, so I'm kind of looking forward to shorter hospital stays in the future."

Bucky's lips twisted into a bit of a smile at that and said, "seems to me you might be better off trying to not land in the hospital in the first place, Doll."

"Believe me, Bucky, I've definitely tried. At this point though, I've just resigned myself to what seems to be my fate as far as that's concerned. You guys might just want to buy some stock in meds now. Or do you just not get heartburn anymore?"

"We're definitely going to have to keep an eye on you."

"Like you won't enjoy looking," I said cheekily and with more bravado than I actually felt. Both smiled at me softly, so I decided to press my luck a little. "You know, that shower felt really good, and I'm feeling mostly human again. There's only one little problem though."

"Oh yeah, what's that, Steph?" Steve asked with plenty of challenge in his voice to tell me he was pretty sure he knew where I was going with this (and he was right).

Making a show of it, I put my wrist up to my nose and took a sniff of my scent gland that was purely for effect before saying, "all omega. Nobody will know that there's an interested party."

My brain barely had time to register the dual growls before I was hauled across the space between us and into Bucky's lap. He pulled my left wrist up to his mouth and ran his mouth along the pulse point softly. When my eyes met his, he ran his tongue along it before giving a gentle nibble. I gave a little whimper, but managed to keep myself from presenting my neck to him for a more intimate marking. Then he turned me a little so I could press my face into his neck and breathe in his scent before shifting to watch as Steve grabbed my other wrist and repeated the same process in a manner very similar to Bucky.

As Steve finished, I had a much more difficult time holding myself back from the alpha, and I caught myself whining without being able to stop it. Bucky distracted me only a little by dropping his mouth to mine and pressing a series of kisses too it that just barely managed to keep from becoming deep and heated. When he pulled his head back, I cleared my throat a little because that had been even better than anticipated and was only able to take a deep breath and clear my head when I was settled back onto my bench. Looking up, I locked my eyes onto Steve's seeing his pupils blown wide with arousal and had to clamp my hands onto the seat cushion to keep myself from launching myself at him.

Eventually I was able to get a few more breaths in and run a shaky hand through my hair. Licking my lips unconsciously, I said, "I probably need to be getting back to Rangeman and my apartment now."

I could tell neither man really wanted me to do so, but understood my reasoning. It was Bucky who spoke up and said, "you're welcome here any time, Doll, but that's probably for the best before one of us loses control and we accidentally take things faster than we should." There was a corner of my brain that already had out an entire parade marching around in Bucky and Steve's honor frantically encouraging me to just give in to the pull of their attraction and our crazy hormone cocktail that was unlike anything I'd experienced before. Thankfully the mature, responsible part of my brain was doing a much better job of staying in command. It was that part of my brain that enabled me to stand up and grab the bag Ranger had brought me and swing it over my shoulder.

"Dinner tomorrow?" Steve blurted out.

"What Steve means to say," Bucky said, smoothing over the invitation. "is we would love to have dinner with you tomorrow, if you're free."

"My schedule is pretty much my own to make and keep, so my timing might be unpredictable, but I can swing by when I'm done for the day. Exactly when that is will depend on how the day goes. Could be early or it could be kind of late. But I'd like to stop by, in fact, if that's okay with you." I said with a smile.

With relief evident on his face, Steve said, "that's great, Steph. We'll be here whenever. Unless of course we get called out, but we'll try to get a message to you if possible if that happens. I put our numbers in your phone earlier, so if you could let one of us know what car you're in tomorrow, if you're using one, we can clear you through so you don't have to stop at security."

"I'm almost always in car, as I can't quite cart around my skips if I catch one the way you seem to be able to," I said softly. "But yes, I'll let you know which when I head out for the day. Do you need just the plates or more?"

"The more information, the better," Bucky said in a tone that was just a little bit business. I didn't begrudge him that though because it was obvious why they would need to be security conscious.

Adjusting my bag, I started toward the gym doors and said over my shoulder, "it's a date. And Steve, I'm holding your shirt hostage."

With an absolutely mischievous grin, he said, "oh yeah? Until what?"

Returning his grin, I said, "until it doesn't smell like you anymore, then you can have it back."

I heard his little groan at his realization that when I gave it back it would be because it smelled like me, and quickly straightened my clothes and hair up trying to look less mussed. Just a couple minutes later I was sitting in Ranger's Cayenne listening to Bobby promise me that he and Ranger would help to keep the others in line as I navigated the beginning of my relationship with Steve and Bucky. It wasn't uncommon for an unbonded omega to get rejected by an established group of betas and alphas if he or she embarked on a relationship with an alpha outside the group. As great as the Merry Men were, I was still more than a little concerned, no matter the reassurances Bobby and Ranger offered me.

As Ranger pulled into the Rangeman building parking lot, he calmly asked, "how do you want to do this?"

I was a little nervous about how the Merry Men would react, but I knew delaying would just make my nerves worse and more prolonged overall, so I said, "I was thinking I'd just rip the bandaid off. Go upstairs now, since that's what I'd normally do anyway."

"Works for me," Ranger said, swinging himself out of his seat and coming around to open my door for me. Bobby took my bag and his medical bag, but I quickly grabbed mine back out of his hands. I didn't want to run the risk of Bobby's scent getting mixed in with Steve's. Bobby eyed the bag knowingly, but didn't say anything else as we took the quick ride upstairs in the elevator. When the doors opened, Bobby and Ranger let me out first, and there was an immediate increase in noise level at the sight of me. As I moved into the room and people started catching the scents I was bringing with me, however, things went simultaneously silent and more than a little chaotic.

Feigning a calmness I didn't feel, I walked to my cubicle and stashed my bag safely under my desk while I faced the onslaught. When I turned back around, I found that Ranger and Bobby had taken up protective stances in the two directions I could be approached from at the moment. Scents were flying that ranged from protective to concerned to angry to relieved to excited for me. Identifying the primary source of the last one, I gestured Hector forward. The alpha strode confidently forward and said, in the English he'd hidden from me for several years before he trusted me enough to admit to speaking, "Stephanie, you look well. You appeared quite injured in the pictures. Was it not so bad as it looked?"

"It was pretty bad, but some of the stuff they gave me at Avengers Tower ended up healing me much more quickly than expected. That's why Ranger and Bobby stopped by, to be there as they ran some tests and made sure there wasn't anything else going on." I said, speaking the truth but not giving all the details since I hadn't cleared that with Bucky yet. I knew he'd probably leave the decision up to me, but I felt he deserved to meet the men before I divulged that information. "Check out this wicked scar though," I said, pulling up the side of my shirt to give Hector a look.

Taking it in and running his fingers over the scar, Hector frowned before looking up at me and saying, "did you win? Has the problem been taken care of?"

"I did not, no. But I met some new... friends... who helped me out. Between Steve and Ranger, I don't think that skip will be making problems for me down the line."

Hector stepped just a hair closer and made a show of sniffing me before he said, "I don't think _friend_, is exactly the right word."

I put my hands up on my flushed face and said, "no not precisely." That was met with enough groans and growls that I threw my hands into the air and cried, "oh shut it, all of you! You knew this day would come eventually, and you couldn't have _wanted_ me to be alone for the rest of my life. You love me too much to wish that upon me. So it's happening now. Probably. I don't even know for sure; it's early. But so far, so good. They like me for me, crazy non-omega job and all! They're willing to accept that and help me be who and what I want to be. I know you all can appreciate how rare that is, and that it is a dealbreaker for me. So you all just need to back off and let me find out for myself if this is going to work and be right for me, okay?"

My outburst was met with silence which was finally broken by Cal saying, "they're not going to be good enough for you, Steph."

Hal cut in saying, "no one is, but knowing that, they're probably pretty close. And Captain America is an outspoken proponent of equality and omega rights. If he can back his words up with action, that's a good thing."

"What about the Winter Soldier," Lester said. "We don't know anything about him other than he was an assassin and he never talks."

I let out my own warning growl, feeling satisfied when Woody smacked Les upside the head and said, "we know he was a POW for seventy goddamn years, and he deserves our respect. If he can come out of that and still want to fight on the side of good, still be able to love, then we can sure as hell trust him."

I gave Woody a smile, and he cautiously stepped forward and wrapped me into a hug whispering in my ear that he was glad I was okay and he was happy for me. That seemed to break the tension, and as soon as he set me down, I was swept up into the next pair of arms. Slowly I was passed around the room until I found myself back at my desk and on my own two feet. Looking over at it, I saw my stapler, grabbed a piece of paper, and tested it, nodding with satisfaction when it made it's little gun noise. Then I smiled wide at the group again before saying, "don't you all have work to do?"

My question was met with grumbles, but everyone started filtering back to their desks, or heading out if they were off shift. Ella slid in next to me and said, "Louis and I have some dessert and tea waiting in our apartment if you'd like to join us for a visit before you go to bed? You call tell us all about your new men."

It was said with such open affection and happiness, that I found myself quickly grabbing my bag and bustling off with Ella, calling over my shoulder to Ranger that we'd talk in the morning. That night, wrapped up in a shirt that smelled like alpha, like Steve, I slept better than I could remember sleeping in a very long time. It was definitely a better night's sleep than I had any right to expect so soon after an attack by an alpha.

The next morning, my meeting with Ranger was fairly quick as he was on a tight schedule. I had some skips to look into who should be well away from where I'd had my altercation with Peterson. After a brief debate, he'd agreed to let me go without backup, and I'd agreed to call if I had any trouble. He gave me a set of keys to another SUV, and I sent the information on it to the guys before I started for the day. The rest of the day went quickly and smoothly with my nerves gradually increasing as it got closer and closer to the end of the day.

Finally unable to resist any longer, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to both men. "_Calling it a day, should be there in about 15 minutes, depending on traffic."_

"_Drive safe,"_ was Steve's immediate reply. "_Looking forward to seeing you."_

"_Can't wait," _responded Bucky before instructing me on which entrance to take when I reached the Tower.

As I pulled up to the indicated driveway, I glanced at my phone, nervously double checking that I was in the correct place. It was an unmanned entrance, but as soon as I pulled up to the gate, a grid of light popped up and scanned over the car before the gate smoothly slid open. I pulled inside carefully, and a set of lights lit up in front of me, guiding me to a parking spot. When I climbed out of the car, I looked over to the elevator I'd noticed, and saw the doors opening to reveal Bucky.

Smiling widely, I strode over to him as I slipped my keys into my utility belt. As soon as I was within reach, Bucky pulled me into the elevator that was still waiting for us and into a hug. Feeling his strong protective grasp around me and smelling his scent, I relaxed into him noticeably. Once we'd both gotten enough comfort for the moment, I stepped back. Wordlessly, Bucky slipped my gun out of my holster and sniffed it before replacing it and doing the same with my stun gun. I looked at him questioningly as he said "good," so he explained about the super smelling and the fact that he could tell I hadn't had to use either that day.

"Steve's cooking, otherwise he would have come down with me to greet you," Bucky said casually explaining the alpha's absence.

"He can cook?" I asked.

"We both can, actually," Bucky said and with a touch of defensiveness he added, "but yes, he's an alpha who can and does cook."

I raised my hands up placatingly and said, "hey, I'm not judging here. Hell, I'm an omega who _can't_ cook, so I couldn't judge even if I wanted to!"

"Sorry, Doll," he said sheepishly. "It's just that some people-"

I cut him off saying, "some people are assholes, but I try really hard not to be. I'm a firm believer in people being who they want to be and doing what they want to do regardless of what set of hormones life has handed them."

I flushed a little realizing I'd probably been more forceful than the situation merited, but Bucky just pulled me forward to give me a quick kiss on the lips. "Honestly, I think that's part of what makes you such a good match for us," he said smoothly. His lips came down to give me another, moderately firmer kiss, just as the doors to the elevator opened.

"Well there's something I could get used to seeing," Steve's voice filtered through the lust to bring me back to myself. Bucky just grinned and guided me out of the elevator, showing me where I could set my weapons by their apartment door, no doubt with the intention that I'd easily be able to grab them if I decided to run. Running seemed like the worst idea in the world to me at that moment, but I still appreciated the gesture. When I turned back around, Bucky had disappeared, presumably to give Steve and I some space. Steve was standing there, waiting patiently while I finished, and I found myself a little nervous as I approached.

When I came to a stop in front of him, he slowly, giving me plenty of opportunity to object if I wanted to, pulled my wrist up to his mouth, refreshing his mark on me by way of greeting. Unlike last time, when he was done, I grabbed his hand and slowly, carefully returned the gesture. The satisfaction I saw in his eyes told me it was what he had been hoping I would do. Deciding to be brave, I followed it up by stepping into his arms for a hug. I allowed myself one quick sniff at his neck before I pressed a kiss to his cheek and said, just a little breathlessly, "hi."

Thankfully, Steve didn't sound unaffected either as he released me and guided me further into the apartment with a hand on the small of my back saying, "hi, Doll. I'm so glad you could make it. I made some pot roast, I hope that's okay? We wanted to take you out, but the statements we released don't seem to have calmed the media down yet. We'd probably be followed. But if you want to go out, we can do that. We can probably give them the slip, and even if they found us, Bucky and I don't care who knows that we're taken with you."

Bucky stepped back out of the kitchen and gave Steve an elbow to the ribs that didn't look particularly gentle but did get Steve to stop rambling. When Bucky held an unopened bottle of wine up, I answered him first, "thanks, but maybe another time when I'm not driving. And Steve, pot roast is fine. I love it, actually. I'm happy to stay in tonight; there will be plenty of time for going out later. I hope."

That got me a smile from both men as they settled me into the seat at the kitchen table closest to the door. The table itself had been dolled up a little, but wasn't overly fussily done. Really the small, short vase of flowers and nice, blue napkins that had been absent yesterday were just enough to let me know they cared, but it was homey rather than fancy, which wouldn't have really suited them.

Throughout the delicious meal, we chatted smoothly and comfortably, as though we already knew each other well and had been doing so for years rather than this being our first actual date. I told them about the skip I'd brought in without any fuss that day and the additional research I'd done for the next, and the only reference made to Peterson was when Steve told me I could come in any time the next day and escort him to jail. He'd been a beta for an entire day now, and they were confident he'd stay that way. At least until he was released and found his way back on the drugs. I promised to warn Mike about the drugs and let him know I wouldn't be performing the capture if Mike posted bail for Peterson again and he went FTA.

After we'd finished dinner, and worked together to clear the table, we settled onto the couch in the living room. I was sitting in the middle with my back leaning into the cradle made by one of Bucky's arms, and my legs comfortably draped over Steve's.

"So, how'd it go when you got back to Rangeman yesterday, Steph?" Steve asked eagerly. His hands were stroking my legs gently, and he seemed satisfied by my answer. We talked for a little while longer before Steve got up and brought over some ice cream for dessert. By the time I'd finished, I could feel myself being practically lulled to sleep by how comfortable both men made me, so I brushed it off and stood.

"I should head back before I get too sleepy to drive," I said, allowing the regret to clearly shine through my voice. "I had a great time though, thank you."

"Will you come back again tomorrow?" Steve asked eagerly, and I found myself instantly agreeing. Who had time to play hard to get when you found a match like we had? "I'm going to let Bucky take you back down to your car, okay? I don't quite trust myself to keep my hands off if I'm in the elevator with you and its poorly filtered air tonight."

It was said with a wry, self deprecating grin, and my heart swelled a little bit more about how carefully Steve was treading, making sure not to push or frighten me. I quickly exchanged scents with both men, and Bucky and I stole a few more kisses that were barely more than chaste during the elevator ride down to the garage. When I walked back into my apartment at Rangeman a short time later, it was with a smile on my face. I quickly changed into my "new" nightshirt, still deliciously covered in Steve's smell, and drifted off. It had been a good day, and I was looking forward to the next.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 **

_**Steph's POV**_

I had all kinds of thoughts, expectations, and fears about what was going to happen to my relationships with Ranger and the Merry Men as a result of beginning to see Steve and Bucky romantically. While none of them had any kind of _claim_ to me, they mostly treated me like a sister. And alpha and beta siblings of omegas had a tendency to be overprotective about potential mates. And often it didn't matter whether or not they were siblings by blood.

While the first confrontation had gone well between the Rangemen and me, I'd yet to allow them all to meet. Steve and Bucky had still only met Ranger and Bobby, though Hector had come the next closest as he went with me to the Tower to pick up Peterson. Apparently Steve and Bucky had been busy when we'd shown up because Peterson had been delivered to us by a couple of armed Stark Industries security guards along with a quickly scrawled apology note from Bucky for not making the delivery himself.

After our first date on Tuesday, I'd spent Wednesday and Thursday in much the same manner- working the streets myself and driving to the Tower for dinner with Steve and Bucky at the end of the day. The dinner dates had stayed about the same. We'd gotten to know each other a little better everyday, but nothing had ever gotten more physical than scent marks on the wrist and a few stolen chaste kisses by Bucky. It was a little dance we were doing, wanting to have a good solid base for our relationship without letting the hormones take over.

Friday was going to be an exciting night. I'd decided to actually take the approaching weekend off in order to have more than a couple hours before I was tired and had to go home to spend with Steve and Bucky. When I'd told them they could have as much or as little of my weekend as they wanted, they'd both enthusiastically declared that they wanted every minute of it. I had a small overnight bag packed up in my apartment that I hadn't decided if I was going to use to stay in their guest room or not. Truthfully, I wasn't sure I could keep my hands to myself if I tried to stay there overnight, so I was leaning toward not.

But first I had to get through Friday, a day that was free from my own skip-chasing and instead involving long hours and a Rangeman skip. I'd done numerous background checks on every involved party and corresponding known associates that I'd been able to hunt up. Some of the Merry Men had spent hours on surveillance using my tips and research during the week and it seemed the skip in question, one Vernon Gill, seemed to frequent the same areas that Peterson had been frequenting. So that meant that Ranger and his men were going to be going in with guns blazing and plenty of kevlar on board.

We'd developed a system for this type of outing where the amount of time I'd spent with my research really made me the best person to have in surveillance helping to call the shots. I'd sit in a van with Hector a couple blocks from the action and communicate with the team through comms. Because of my previous experience in the area, and our uncertainty of whether or not there was some greater force at work there, Ranger was also putting Woody in the van with us. Other than Ranger, and by extension Tank, Hector and Woody were the two Merry Men alphas who I knew would defend me with everything they had. Most of the times, the communication equipment in the van was toggled off by default- I could push a button to open communication with the team, but for the most part, they weren't hearing what was going on.

For Gill's takedown, the lines of communication were going to be open all the time. Not such a big deal except for the fact that it meant I couldn't chatter to pass the time the way I usually preferred. Instead I was sitting there, scanning monitors, trying to stay quiet, and occasionally sneaking out my phone to text with Bucky. I'd tried texting Steve as well, but as soon as he'd found out I was on operation support, he told me to put my phone away and pay attention. He'd see me in the morning, having previously ascertained that I was going to be finishing up for the night well after midnight and would just want to crash for a few hours at home rather than dragging myself by the Tower first.

"Babe?" Ranger asked over the radio what felt like fifty years later, but was really just after midnight.

"Yeah?"

"Just wanted to make sure you were still awake. All teams are in position, and we're getting ready to move in."

Things got more interesting after that. Hector, Woody and I split the monitors and relayed important facts to each team about the people they were coming across. If Hector or Woody didn't remember who someone was, they'd tap the screen and I'd supply the name and pertinent background for them. About the same time our teams inside were fully engaged with the op, I felt a shiver run down my spine. A very malicious one. Straightening even more, I stopped what I was saying mid-sentence and switched my view to the set of cameras around the perimeter of the van. I watched as men who didn't appear to be a group walked along the cars, each with some sort of handheld device. Then one of them caught the others' attention and made some sort of complicated gesture that had all of them focusing on what I was pretty sure was our van.

"Uh, guys? We've got incoming," I said, trying to maintain my calm.

Instantly on alert, Hector and Woody looked at the monitor that had caught my attention and started cursing as they pulled out their weapons and double checked their and my body armor. With one hand on the back doors to the van, Hector looked at me and said quickly, "pay attention. If anyone gets the door open, you run like hell, okay?"

Taking a deep breath, I nodded and watched helplessly as Hector and Woody slipped out the back. Woody moved to the front and Hector stayed where he was. Moving my eyes frantically between monitors, I saw as they were each quickly surrounded by men and the fighting began. I could tell that they were both holding their own, and no one seemed to be approaching the van. I was listening as the Merry Men inside tried to wrap up their fight to get out and provide backup to Hector and Woody. All in all, I was concerned, but doing okay until I heard a thunk on the roof and looked up to see what seemed like two boot prints on the roof. This was followed by a bright light and sparks and the tink-tink of metal hitting the van floor.

As fast as I could I had my hand on the back door of the van, and was pushing it open. Unfortunately, that still wasn't fast enough to keep me from breathing in the gas. Hearing the door to the van open, Hector turned to look at me, and his eyes widened as he smelled what I was only beginning to realize. Whatever had been in that canister was sending me into heat. Fast.

"Steph, RUN!" Hector yelled.

In that moment, I looked at all the men fighting with Woody and Hector, and the one who'd come in the roof of the van in a gas mask and realized they were all alpha. Hit with a fresh spike of fight-or-flight adrenaline that was clearly yelling at me to choose the flight option, I dug in and did exactly what Hector told me to. I ran. Even though I'd been warned multiple times that it usually wasn't the best call to run with a gun out, this time, I did it anyway.

When the first alpha grabbed onto me at the end of the block and I immediately knew from his scent that he was an unknown. I didn't think, just spun with it as he pulled me and fired as soon as I could. Sure, he was wearing Kevlar and my gun wasn't all that powerful, but it took him down. Probably just a broken rib or two and the wind knocked out of him, I reminded myself as I finished the turn and kept running.

It was a terrifying process that I had to repeat two more times before I had the closest safe place I'd known to run in sight. As soon as I reached 45th, I tucked my gun back into my belt, not missing a stride and put everything I had left into running the last couple of blocks. The streets were mostly empty, but still I had to put on a burst of speed to dodge one car and couldn't control the wince at the crunch of the goon closest behind me not being similarly successful. I was saying a little prayer in my head that somehow JARVIS would see me incoming, and it seemed like I was right because the doors opened before I reached them and slammed shut behind me, barring me from being followed. Security tried to stop me, but I heard JARVIS calling to me from the open back elevator, so I kept running right into it.

I could hear JARVIS trying to talk to me as the elevator rose, but couldn't really hear him over the sound of my own whining and sobbing. This didn't feel like a normal heat. First, it was almost in full swing already, something that should have taken the better part of a day or two under normal circumstances. Second, it felt… wrong. When the doors to the elevator opened, I sighed in relief when I recognized Steve and Bucky's door in front of me. With my remaining energy, I slammed through it, not taking any time to register the way they jumped up in surprise and started toward me. Without stopping to answer their questions, I staggered to my heat room, pushed it open, and sealed the door behind me. I managed a handful of shaky steps forward before I crashed onto the floor.

I was hot. Too hot. I started dragging myself toward the bathroom, intending to get to the giant tub I remembered being in there. When I finally made it in there, I propped myself against the bathtub, trying to figure out how to turn it on before it miraculously turned itself on. I tried to pull my shirt off, but I couldn't so I dragged myself up and over the side of the tub fully clothed. The water was blissfully cool, and I felt myself become just a little more aware just as the bathroom door opened again behind me.

I whimpered and flailed, trying to get away until I realized that the scent I smelled was a soothing, bonded _omega_. Taking a deep breath and trying to calm myself a little, I managed to recognize Natasha. She had two large buckets of ice and she threw that into the tub with me. The shock of the cold had me clear headed for the first time since I breathed in the fog.

"What happened?" she asked curtly, and I could understand the urgency as I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to keep it together and be coherent.

"Some kind of gas, sent me into heat. There were so many alphas, and Hector and Woody were trying to fight them. Oh God, what if they're not okay, Natasha. They told me to run and I just left them there."

"If you had stayed, it would have been much worse. Banner and Tony are waiting outside. Tony's an omega as well. Can he come in and take some blood so we can figure out what's going on and if we can counter it?"

"Please, make it stop," I stuttered. While most heats were all-consuming and compelling, they were still usually pleasurable. This one just hurt. I could feel myself starting to be overtaken by the pain again as I saw Tony come in. He helped Natasha strip me to my bra and panties then drew blood promising to be back with _something_ soon. As soon as he left, Natasha started opening cabinets until she found The Cabinet. Rooting around in it, she found and opened a vibrator, handing it to me and telling me she'd be outside.

Knowing she was right, an orgasm did cause a lull in heat, I managed, just barely to use it. Only this time, instead of relief it made things much, much worse. I was grateful she'd chosen one that I could use over my panties, because as soon as I started screaming, Natasha came crashing back in. She grabbed what I now thought of as the torture device, turned it off, and threw it back into the cabinet. Then she rushed back out and came back with more ice which she threw into the tub.

I could hear her yelling, but it sounded like it was coming from a distance. All I really knew was pain. It was eating me from the inside out, and I was clawing at myself, unable to get it to stop. I had some vague awareness in my mind that said, "Tony" again before I blissfully slid into darkness.

When I came to, I was pleasantly warm, but not hot. I could smell Steve and Bucky, and that was what really brought me around. I shifted, and realized that I was in a nest that smelled like them. Piled around me were a bunch of pillows, and cushioning me from underneath was a soft down comforter. I had a sheet over me and I was clothed in what I was pretty sure were their clothes.

And I had the mother of all hangovers. When you had a hangover like that and hadn't even gotten to enjoy any of the fun that usually caused it, it was really not fair. I let out a groan and gasped in shock when the redhead I only vaguely remembered seeing before popped her head into my nest. Her face looked relieved when she saw me looking back at her and said, "hey, Steph."

"I feel… terrible. What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

I licked my lips, and realized I was completely parched. Natasha disappeared for a moment then came back with a water bottle, leaning over and not opening it until it was right in front of me so I could hear the seal breaking as she did so. After I took a couple of shaky sips I said, "I was in the surveillance van with Hector and Woody. It was boring, but the takedown was going well. Then I realized we were being surrounded. Woody and Hector went to fight them."

My voice cut out on a crack and Natasha reassured me, "they're fine."

Sighing in relief, I said, "I heard something thunk onto the roof of the van, then there was… a bright light… smoke… I was really scared. And it hurt SO MUCH."

"You were drugged- heat inducing. You made it back to the Tower and locked yourself in here before anything bad could happen."

I let out another sigh of relief and slowly sat up. Looking around, I took in my surroundings and saw Tony sitting in another chair. When I smiled hesitantly at him, he approached and said, "you were even further gone by the time I saw you earlier, so we didn't want to freak you out if you didn't remember me being there."

My clothes smelled ever so faintly of Natasha under the comforting smell of Steve and Bucky, but the nest itself had traces of Tony. I realized then that Natasha must have dressed me at some point while Tony had made the nest for me. I looked between the two of them and said, "you helped me. Thanks. I don't think I would've… survived…" I trailed off, not wanting to voice the rest.

Tony dug the toe of his shoe into the carpet and said, "anybody would have helped Steph. That was awful."

Natasha hummed her agreement before saying, "are you feeling well enough to get up?"

I cautiously sat up and then collapsed onto the headboard behind me. "I don't think I can," I finally admitted.

"Well, that's to be expected," Tony said slowly. "We got an IV line in you a few times to get you nutrients and hydration, but you haven't actually _eaten_ in a long time. You look like you're completely out of the heat. Are you?"

I did a mental once-over before nodding.

Looking me square in the eyes, Natasha asked, "Can we let Steve in to come get you and bring you to the living room?" I must have looked a little nervous because she quickly said, "it's okay. No one is angry with you. But they'd both really like to see you, and you should try to eat. Tony and I will clean this place up a little then join you, if that's alright. If not, that's okay too, we'll go out and bring some food for you."

Taking a deep breath, I said, "I want to see them. I'll go out there if someone can get me out there."

Natasha disappeared and Tony came forward. "Did you figure out what they gave me? How'd you get me out of the heat?"

"We have it mostly figured out, but we'll talk about it more later, okay? For now you need to rest."

I was cut off from asking any more by the door opening again. Anxiety started to crawl back into the pit of my stomach when I smelled _alpha_, as soon as I registered that it was Steve though, I started calming back down. He slowly stepped into my line of sight and asked, "can I pick you up?"

I gave him a watery smile, nodded my head, and slid my arms around his neck when he reached in for me. I felt one big hand settle under my legs and the other slide along my back, and then I was pressed up against his chest. Unashamedly, I burrowed my nose into his neck, taking in his scent with a relieved whimper. Much to my surprise, he did the same to me even as he walked steadily with me out to the living room. When we got there, Bucky was laying on his side on the extra large couch, and Steve just flopped down with me in his arms alongside him. I shifted so I was basically laying on top of both of them and they each had an arm thrown around my waist. I alternated taking fortifying breaths of each of their scent until I managed feel steady enough to prop my chin up on my hands on Steve's chest.

"I think I might be late for our date," I deadpanned.

"Not funny, Steph," Bucky said with a groan.

"I laugh or I cry," I said with a small shrug. "Your choice, but if I start crying, it's gonna be ugly and I don't know when or how I'm going to stop."

"Okay," Steve said calmly, shifting me to I'd be laying on my side half on Bucky as he slid out from under me. "Let's try a little bit of food first. Then you can cry as long and as hard as you want, okay?"

I felt my chin start to quiver, but I resolutely nodded my head. I rested my head back on Bucky's chest and felt him running his hand gently up and down my back. His other arm moved so that it was under me then wrapped around me and I was pressed into a full hug against him. My eyes were closed, but I could hear Steve approach again a couple minutes later and pushed myself up with help from Bucky. With a little effort, we rearranged ourselves to be sitting and Steve handed a bowl of soup to Bucky who held it in front of me as Steve sat on my other side.

When I reached out and grabbed the spoon, I started to bring it to my mouth only to have it spill everywhere because my hand was shaking so badly. Cursing because it was hot, and apologizing to Bucky who hadn't even flinched, I started sniffling again. Steve just murmured reassurances, and Bucky kissed the side of my forehead as Steve took the spoon from me and carefully brought it up to my lips.

Once I'd eaten as much as I could, I shook my head with a sigh, and Steve put the spoon back in the bowl as Bucky got up to take it back into the kitchen. Finding a little courage, I finally asked, "what day is it?"

"It's Saturday morning," Steve said slowly.

"Oh, just a few hours, that's not so bad."

Steve heaved out a sigh and said, "it's been eight days Steph."

My brain honestly didn't know how to process that, so I just broke a little inside. I buried my head in Steve's chest and let the tears come, barely registering as Bucky came back and they both maneuvered me around until we were back in the position we'd been in earlier.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_**Steve's POV**_

Bucky and I were relaxed together on the couch, half watching a movie while planning out where we wanted to take Steph and what we wanted to do over the weekend. As much as we'd been trying to keep her out of the spotlight over the course of the week, we realized that we were sure in our choice of Steph as an omega, as long as she'd be willing to have us. With that in mind, we were hoping she'd be alright with going _out_ with us instead of just staying in the Tower. Sure, there were plenty of things we could do in the Tower. Goodness knows Tony had managed to slip more than enough things by his bonded beta, Pepper, in the design of the Tower that were purely for entertainment purposes.

Still there was something to be said for being able to go out and walk around together in the sun. Knowing how much Steph liked the beach, we thought we might talk Steph into letting us pick her up early with the promise of letting her sleep in the car, and drive her up to Newport, Rhode Island for the day. Even though I'd refused to text with Steph while she was on the job, Bucky had no such compunctions and was working on that convincing. He almost had her when she stopped responding, and so we figured her operation had reached the active phase.

We'd been a little nervous when she told us that she was going to be back in the neighborhood of where her bust had gone bad, but ultimately we had to trust her. And it didn't hurt that she was going to be sitting in surveillance a couple blocks away from the action the whole time. To keep our minds off of it, we talked through more of our plans. We didn't focus just on the weekend, eventually drifting into our plans of how we were going to convince Steph to stick around with us forever.

It was in the middle of that planning that Steph burst in, without any warning from JARVIS who I could only assume had wanted to give her as clear of a shot to her heat room as possible. We'd both jumped up, braced for an attack, poleaxed instead by Steph's appearance. What had followed had been our own kind of hell. Not as bad as what Steph went through, I was sure, but still awful. The door to the room had been shut behind Steph before we could get any information from her other than her ragged appearance, the scent of what could in no way be a natural heat because it smelled so _off_, and the lingering smell of gunpowder that had also come in with her.

"JARVIS!" I yelled.

"Captain, I picked up Stephanie on our cameras one block out, and have begun to retrace her progress through various security and traffic cameras."

"Okay, I want to see that soon, but she's not okay. That's not a regular heat. She needs help!"

There was a pause before JARVIS said, "Captain, I cannot let you in there."

"I know," I ground out, "get _Natasha_."

Natasha breezed in thirty seconds later saying, "Clint wants to talk to you if it's safe."

I looked over at Bucky and we both thought for a couple more minutes before reaching the same decision, after all, Clint was bonded with Natasha and therefore not a threat, "send in Clint, JARVIS."

Clint arrived at the same time as Bruce and Tony, to Bruce, I growled out, "you're not going in there."

"No, I'm not. But Tony is going to go in and get me a blood sample. Natasha says we need something to counter whatever Steph was given fast. Can I work from here? I won't go near Steph."

I jerkily nodded my head, and Darcy and Sam rushed in a few minutes later with a cart of equipment for Bruce. When Tony came stumbling out, drenched in the smell of Steph's artificial heat, he seemed pale. He handed a vial to Bruce, but said, "we're probably going to need to knock her out to buy us some time, it's bad."

Not a minute later, Steph started screaming in agony that we could all clearly hear even though the room was well insulated for obvious reasons. After that, I saw red. When I became aware of myself again, I was in the master bedroom with Bucky. We were both naked, and I grimaced when I saw the bruise on his face.

"I'm sorry, Buck," I groaned out. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"Nothin' I ain't gotten from sparring, so don't you worry."

"What happened?"

"Well, you went into a bit of a rage. Then you went into rut, so we've been in here for the better part of two days." When I opened my mouth to ask if I'd hurt him again, he just shook his head and said, "I'm _fine_."

Sitting up, still in a bit of a shock, I started to get up saying, "Steph?"

"They had to knock her out, and they're still keeping her under. Medically induced coma, Bruce called it. He's been working pretty much non-stop and finally has a cure worked out. He says that he should have it synthesized by the end of the day tomorrow."

"She's going to be okay?"

"Yep, no lasting side effects."

We'd both pulled on enough clothes for the time being, and I pulled open the door and strode out toward the living room, unsure of what I was going to find. I was surprised to see not one shred of evidence of my rage other than the shiner that Clint was sporting as well. I winced when he made eye contact and gestured to the eye saying, "sorry, man."

Clint just waved it off, "that's alright, Cap. I've been there. There was this one time in Budapest when I thought Natasha was a goner…"

He trailed off, and I just nodded my head in acknowledgment. There was a movement in the kitchen, and I saw Sam and Pepper walking out. Sam had a split lip, but before I could say anything he just said, "it's fine. No big deal."

Pepper had snuck back into the kitchen and came out with a giant stack of pizza boxes. Sam went in behind her, and grabbed an even bigger pile, as Bucky said to Pepper, "thanks for fixing up the place while we were… otherwise occupied."

"It's no problem; that's what family's for. And the damage would have been much worse if you weren't there to get him in control and out of the way so quickly." I winced, but Pepper just shifted the boxes so she could give me a reassuring pat on the shoulder as she walked by. My stomach growled at the smell of the pizza, and she laughed and said, "come on, we're having dinner downstairs with the Rangemen and you are going to _be friendly_ so that Steph has one less thing to worry about when she wakes up."

Bucky threw an arm around my shoulders with a chuckle as he said, "probably the best time possible. You should be feeling relatively docile, right, Steve."

I gave his shoulder a shove, but nodded my head because it _was_ true. Looking at him, I asked, "you met them yet?"

He snorted, "like hell I'm going in there without you havin' my back. Plus, I was busy."

I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and whispered another apology, and the arm around my shoulder just tightened to reassure me that we were okay. As we approached the conference room, Bucky became less Bucky and more Winter Soldier, letting me know just how upset he was about the whole thing. I'd have to make sure he didn't lose his cool either. Obviously reading my mind, Sam just said, "we got your backs," with Clint grunting in agreement.

Opening the door and striding in, confidently, I was a little surprised by the sight in front of me. Tony was sitting near but actually a couple seats down from the head of the table. Two seats had clearly been left open there for Bucky and I. As my gaze wandered around to the room full of obviously highly trained alphas and betas, I winced. They definitely looked a little rougher for the wear. I caught Ranger's eye at the middle of the table, and nodded in greeting and appreciation in the gesture he was making by giving us the positions of power in the room.

Approaching the seats, I noticed the smallest alpha in the room, immediately to the right of our seats, who had a cast on his arm, another on his leg, and if I wasn't mistaken from the way he was sitting, numerous cracked ribs. On the opposite side of our seats was a larger alpha, actually probably slightly taller than me, who looked just as beat up.

"Hector," I said, addressing the smaller man first, "it's a pleasure to meet you." I turned then to the other man and said, "Woody you as well."

Both exchanged handshakes and greetings with Bucky as well, and we stood there for a moment eyeing the rest of the men in the room. Finally I said, "Gentlemen, I'm Steve Rogers, this is Bucky Barnes. Steph has told us a lot about you, and we're glad to meet you but sorry it is under these circumstances. I apologize for being out of pocket the last couple of days, I had an… adverse reaction… to the events of Friday night."

Bruce and Natasha slid into the room, and I said, "perhaps we'd all like to start with an update on Steph's condition."

Bruce stepped forward and said simply, "we were able to temporarily stop the synthetic heat, and the accompanying distress, by putting Steph under with a powerful, Dendrotoxin-based sedative. That has been keeping her under while I developed a drug to counteract the one she was given. I have one that I am confident will work that is currently synthesizing. Within the next day, it will be ready for Natasha and Tony to administer. Once that's done, they will make Steph more comfortable and we'll provide her with intermittent IV treatments until she wakes up. Given the length of time she's spent under the sedative, it will likely take several days to possibly a couple weeks. We'll leave her connected to the medical equipment and such until we think she's close to waking up, then disconnect everything and try to situate her so she'll wake up not in a panic or shock. She will not, however, have any lasting side-effects other than probable weakness when she first wakes up due to, well, being in a coma. If there are any questions, I'll take them quickly but I'd like to get back to the lab."

Bobby asked several questions before getting up and exiting with Banner to go back to the lab. Once everyone had settled back down, Pepper started passing around plates and pizza boxes. In front of Bucky and I she just set a whole pizza each covered in the works. I made quick work of mine, and Sam just laughed as all the other men goggled. His laugh was paired with him swapping out my empty box for a fresh pie, and doing the same for Bucky, so I let it go.

"Alright," I said, determined to eat my second pizza at a more reasonable pace. "Ranger, are these all the men that were out on Friday night?"

"Yes."

"Good, Steph will be relieved to know you're all okay." Natasha said, "one of the few coherent things she was able to express to me Friday night was fear for all of you and guilt for leaving you behind to fight."

I polished off another piece of pizza while they all argued that it would have been much worse if they'd had to protect an in-heat omega while fighting. Once that had died down a little, I said, "I assume we've been able to track down video footage of Steph's journey by now, I'd like to review that first if that's alright. I'm assuming you've already seen it, so if you need to leave, feel free."

A few of the men shifted uncomfortably, but they all stayed put when JARVIS started the footage. Most of them were watching me warily, actually, and Bucky had a restraining hand on my knee matching the one I had on his. We watched first a security camera from the building the van had been parked in front of.

As we saw Hector and Woody get out of the van and into position with enough time to prepare for the oncoming attack, Hector proudly declared, "Steph was the one who figured out they were coming in time for us to avoid it being a complete ambush."

We watched as they started fighting, clearly outnumbered but holding their own fairly well. Then we saw someone jump down onto the top of the van from out of the camera's range, and I couldn't hold back a bit of a growl as I watched him cut open the roof of the van and pull out a canister out of his pocket to drop it in. He looked down at the fighting happening around him while he pulled a gas mask over his face and jumped into the van. Simultaneously, the back of the van opened and we saw Steph for the first time. You could already tell that something was off in her movements beyond the sheer panic you could read in her face.

As we watched the progression of her moving through the blocks, I frowned a little. I whispered so softly that I knew no one other than Bucky would hear me, "do you think she was always that fast?"

"I don't think so," he whispered back.

It was all happening so quickly, the first man caught her, and she shot him, repeating the process two more times with two more attackers. I snuck a look over at Natasha who had a satisfied smirk on her face, obviously approving of the fight Steph was putting up to get to safety. Even though I knew what was coming, I still let out a sigh of relief when I saw the doors to the Tower open for her and the gratitude on her face for the safe haven it represented.

When the video cut out, I was surprised that Pepper was the first person to speak up. "I worked with Ranger and a team of Stark Industries and Rangeman lawyers to review the video and audio from that night then coordinate with the NYPD. I don't care if you like it, no one from either team will be provided the audio until such time as Steph has awoken and you have been able to see and speak with her. Believe me, it is for the best. The NYPD has assured us that neither Steph nor any other member of the Rangeman team will be facing charges from the events of that night. Working with Ranger using Steph's research, we've been able to ID most of the attackers and they've been taken into custody by NYPD… some are in the hospital under guard for the time being."

"Good," Bucky snorted out in satisfaction.

For the next couple of days we worked with the Rangemen on closing out the cases of the men who had attacked Steph. We were able to uncover plenty of dirt to keep them locked away for a few years at least, and we didn't even have to fabricate any of it. No matter how badly Natasha, Tony, and Hector had lobbied to do so. I didn't want anything being done that might create an opportunity down the road for an appeal.

As we approached what would be a week from the attack, and three days since Steph had stopped receiving the Dendrotoxin and instead received treatment, Bucky and I both became less and less willing to socialize or even leave our apartment. Finally, Nat and Tony came out of Steph's room on Saturday morning, pushing the hospital bed they'd had Steph in.

Immediately sitting straighter from where I was sitting on the couch sketching, I asked eagerly, "is she awake?"

The two continued to push the bed out of the apartment then Tony asked JARVIS to have someone pick it up. When they walked back in, Natasha went straight back to the room and Tony came over to talk to Bucky and I. "She's not awake yet, but we think it will be soon. Natasha's going to give her a bath and get her dressed in some of the clothes in the trunk if that's okay with you. I'd also like to, with your permission, use the rest of the stuff in there to make her a nest to wake up in. We think it'll be a little less of a shock to her system that way, even if it wasn't a true heat."

"Of course," I said. "We added that stuff in there for her. If you don't think it'll freak her out to smell us, and you and Natasha would probably know best on that, though you could consult with Darcy if you aren't sure since you've been bonded for so long now, that's fine with us."

"We talked to Darcy through JARVIS earlier and she agrees."

"Then by all means, please do."

As soon as he'd gone back into the room, I started pacing. I only made it back and forth a dozen times before Bucky just grabbed me and pulled me onto the couch with him. "You've got food ready for her when she wakes up, and Natasha and Tony are doing everything they can to make it non-traumatic. Her attackers are in jail; there's nothing more we can do. We still don't know how long this will take, so as futile as it may feel, let's just try to relax, okay?"

I settled in and, without being asked, JARVIS turned on the TV and put on a movie for us to watch while we waited. Looking back, I couldn't tell you what the movie was, who was in it, or a single piece of plot that happened in it, but it did seem to make the time pass a little more quickly. When Natasha came breezing out an hour or so later, we both held our breaths. She asked me to come in and get Steph, and I moved quickly to do so, hearing Bucky ask JARVIS to turn off the TV as I walked through the room.

Seeing Steph awake and having her with us felt fabulous. We were able to get a little bit of food in her, help her through an emotional outburst, and then hold her until she fell asleep again. When Natasha and Tony came out, they smiled at the sight of us all piled onto the couch together, and Natasha pulled the blanket off the couch and spread it over us.

Looking at Tony, I asked, "is it okay that she's asleep again?"

"Best thing for her," he said. "We're going to give you three some space for a couple hours, let the others know she's up, and hold them off as long as we can. Maybe you both can get some shut eye as well."

"Did she eat?" Natasha asked.

"Little bit of broth from some chicken soup."

"That's good. Just keep giving her a little at a time anytime she's awake and can stomach it until her body gets used to having food in it again," Natasha said quietly. She reached over and smoothed a hand through Steph's hair and said, "that was rough, but she'll be fine. She's a fighter."

With that, both Tony and Natasha left, and I took a moment to hope that they got some rest as well. They'd each taken some breaks here or there, and Darcy subbed in a few times, but for the most part both of them had been with Steph since she made it into the Tower. For a while longer, I just laid there relieved to have Bucky with me and Steph back as well. When I felt Bucky drift off to sleep, I allowed myself follow, content with the knowledge that my beta and the woman I hoped would become my omega were both safely with me.

* * *

**A/N:** I apologize if last chapter's heat was too graphic for some people. I've increased the rating just in case, and would like to reassure you that's as graphic as the story has gotten (at least through Chapter 15, which I'm currently trying to finish).


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_**Ranger's POV**_

Hearing Steph get attacked over the radio but not being able to help her had been brutal, as had not being able to find her right away. Then we'd discovered that she'd gone into Avengers Tower, and there had been a whole new kind of fear for us all. Fear that she had misplaced her trust, and was being taken advantage of by an alpha and beta she would have no chance to escape even if she tried. Fear that she hadn't made it all the way to Steve and Bucky without someone else in the Tower coming across her.

Thankfully none of that had come true. She'd been granted asylum in a safe heat room and had other omegas watching out for her. Once we'd met with those Avengers who were available to meet, Pepper Potts had shown us a guest suite with four bedrooms so that some of us could rotate through staying there and being available whenever Steph woke up. It was taking longer than anyone expected, which was concerning even with repeated assurances that Steph would be okay.

Finally just before midday on Saturday, the door to the guest suite swung open to Natasha, Clint, and Sam. "Come on," Sam said. "Steph's up and out of her hidey hole. Time to say hi."

I looked around the room at the men gathered with me and asked, "how are Steve and Bucky doing?"

"They're mostly just blissed out to have Steph back with them," Natasha replied bluntly.

"Alright, let's go with Bobby, Hector, and Woody to start. Bobby's somewhat familiar, and Steph's going to need to see Hector and Woody with her own two eyes."

Everyone nodded in agreement and without further delay we were on our way. As we walked up to the door of an apartment we had never been in before, I stopped outside prepared to knock. Sam just smirked and opened the door before slipping in. Clint and Natasha followed, and the rest of us stood awkwardly outside. That lasted for all of two seconds before Natasha reached back out and yanked me in, the rest of my men following.

It was completely silent in the apartment, so we walked over to where Clint had his phone out taking pictures of something on the couch. The two super soldiers were crammed together on the couch and Steph was sprawled out over both of them, with her face buried in Steve's neck. There was a blanket pulled over them, and they appeared to be asleep. Even with the blanket covering her, I could tell that Steph looked a little too thin.

"What?" Growled out Rogers.

"Just trying to reassure others that she's alive," said Natasha. "You know what they say, Cap. 'Seeing is believing,' so just play nice."

"She's resting," protested Bucky, and I should have known better than to think either had stayed asleep once the door to their apartment opened, especially with a frail omega in their arms.

I was trying to get myself to offer to leave, especially since neither man had opened his eyes yet, when Rogers said, "just sit down, guys. Especially you, Hector. Steph will want to see you and Woody when she wakes up."

It was a big living room with plenty of seating, so we did as requested even as Steph started shifting. Clint and Sam started up a conversation, asking Hector and Woody how long each would be out of the field while Natasha disappeared into the kitchen. Both Super Soldiers were ignoring us, for the most part, but that was fine with me. I was just grateful they hadn't kicked us out.

Watching them, I realized how correct Natasha's description was. They were both just pleased to have Steph in their arms and be able to hold her, touch her, knowing that she was okay. As I watched them soothe her in unison when she started to whimper and grow restless, a lot of my reservations started to melt away. These were two men I could trust were never going to hurt Steph or try to force her to do anything unwillingly. The last of my qualms completely disappeared when Steph opened her eyes and looked at both men with a smile brighter than any I'd seen on her face before, despite the nightmares it had seemed that she was having before she awoke.

With a tilt of his chin, Bucky directed her attention our way. Steph startled for a moment, but before I could say anything, she just grumbled, "I know, Ranger. I need to be aware of my surroundings, but I was the one who saw the ambush coming, so that's progress, right?"

"Yes, Steph. I was actually just going to ask how you were feeling though." Her mouth made a little "o" of surprise, but she stopped and thought about it.

"I feel like I could sleep for another week and it wouldn't be enough. But other than that, I'm not injured or anything. Hector, Woody, thanks for saving me."

"All we did was buy you some time, Darlin'. We've seen the videos, and you did a pretty darn good job of saving yourself," Woody drawled.

Stephs hands flew up to her face and she said, "oh my God, I shot people. You're not allowed to just shoot people."

Steve and Bucky were immediately soothing her, but it was Clint who said, "well, no. You aren't allowed to just shoot people for no reason. But you had a legal right to carry, you were on the job, and you were clearly being attacked so you were well within your rights at the time. Pepper's talked to the cops, and you're covered. No charges. Though we did have to turn over your gun as evidence."

"Did any of them die?" Steph squeaked out.

"The men that tried to capture you and you shot, no." I explained, "but the man who chased you into the street and got hit by that car did."

"Are the people in the car okay?"

"Yes, Steph. They're fine. Don't you worry about anyone other than you, okay?" Natasha said as she came out of the kitchen balancing a bowl of soup, some crackers on a plate, and a mug that smelled like chamomile tea for Steph. The three on the couch shuffled into a sitting position, and when Steph's hands started shaking trying to bring the tea to her mouth, Steve just put his hand over hers to steady them carefully.

Everyone watched as Steph slowly made her way through a small portion of the food before giving in. With a sigh, she rested her head on the back of the couch and said, "what time is it? I'm pretty sure it is still Saturday, right?"

"It is 12:18pm," JARVIS announced.

"You all should get some lunch, I'm fine to sit here alone for that long," Stephanie said.

I'd seen how much both men eat, so I was sure that they did need a break, but I could also sense their hesitation so I said, "We'll stay with her."

Much to my surprise, they seemed to accept that, and both got up. Bucky turned around and eased Steph to be laying back down on the couch and gave her a quick peck on the lips. Then Steve eased the blanket back over her and placed a kiss of his own on her forehead. "We'll be up on the team floor for just a little bit, but if you need anything, have JARVIS alert us, okay?" Steve whispered.

Steph nodded her head, and I watched as Steve, Bucky, Clint, Natasha, and Sam all filed out. When the door shut behind them, I fixed Steph with a thoughtful look. "You seem happy here, Babe."

It wasn't a question, but she responded anyway with a shrug and said, "I think I am, and I think I could be in the long run too."

She looked at me a little nervously, so I winked and said, "I think you could be too."

We passed the next few minutes with Steph quizzing Hector and Woody on their injuries, and all three of them being lectured by Bobby on the importance of rest in the healing process. As the minutes passed, I assumed Steve and Bucky would be getting back soon, so I asked Steph if she wanted to go back to Rangeman or stay in the Tower.

"I think for now, I'd like to stay here. If they'll have me, that is," Steph was saying just as the door opened again.

I could see matching looks of relief on both men's faces, and I smiled as I said, "I have a feeling that's going to be perfectly alright with them. Now, you and these two clowns here got injured while on the job for Rangeman. And you know what that means because we went a few rounds on the clause when you signed your most recent consulting contract with us. Rangeman and I will be picking up your skips for Mike, and you will be getting paid FULL TIME pay for four weeks. Now, lucky you slept through the first week, so you can't even complain about being bored yet. Three more weeks, Steph. Even if you're cleared by a doctor or medic in the meantime, you won't be lifting a finger skip tracing or at Rangeman for work for three more weeks."

Steph made a face, but nodded her head in understanding all the same. Bucky chose that moment to walk around so Steph could see him and pick her legs up to slide under them. "Don't worry, Steph. There's hardly ever been a boring day in the Tower! You can stay with us as long as you want, and we'll keep you entertained."

I stood up and stretched and said, "you're going to spoil her rotten, aren't you?" Not waiting for an answer I continued, "alright, well, if that's settled, I think we'd best be heading back. You look pretty exhausted, so we'll tell the rest of the men that you're well and they can come back another day to visit."

_**Bucky's POV**_

I was surprised when Steve said we'd have lunch upstairs because I didn't really want to leave Steph, and I was certain he didn't want to either. But, I went along with it, and when we made it to the elevator, Steve shrugged, "she hasn't talked all that much about Trenton, but you know those guys in there are pretty much what she has left in the way of family. I figured they could use some time to reassure themselves that she's okay, but also that we aren't pushing her into something she doesn't want or to move too fast."

"She's just as taken with you two as you are with her, Cap," said Clint. "Everyone can clearly see it. It's disgusting, really."

"Who is this?" I looked up in surprise and saw Jane and Thor standing there smiling. We all went over and greeted them happily. I tried to distract them and turn the conversation to their travels, but Jane was having none of it. "Who is taken with you two?"

"Stephanie," Darcy sing-songed with a smile. "So is she going to stay here while she recovers? You know, I'm sure we can get Bruce to write a doctors note to get her off work and say she should stay in the Tower for observation!" She wiggled her eyebrows at the last bit, and I snorted out a laugh while Steve blushed.

Darcy proceeded to give Jane and Thor the abridged version of Stephanie's introduction to the group, while Steve and I fixed ourselves some leftovers and started eating quickly. When she finished, Steve said, "she's got three more weeks off paid, but I don't know if she wants to stay here. We haven't had a chance to talk about it. I mean, she's a little spooked by alphas, plus she'll need help. What if we have to leave for a mission?"

"Then I will help her," Darcy said easily. "I mean, I know she doesn't really like me, but we'll make do. I have experience pestering people until they reluctantly accept me."

Steve's brow furrowed, and I was pretty sure mine did as well, as he asked, "why do you think she doesn't like you?"

"Dunno, she just always gives me space. Doesn't seem to want to chat."

"Darcy, I don't think that's what it is. I think she's afraid of you," Natasha said.

"What?" echoed around the room.

"You're an unbonded omega too. She doesn't want to step on your toes or piss you off because she's worried that if she disturbs the group dynamics, that she won't be allowed around anymore." When everyone just stared at Natasha she added, "it doesn't seem like Steph has a lot of supportive groups that are inclusive of non-traditional hangers-on outside of the group at Rangeman. But they're all alpha and beta males who probably don't have a lot of great, unconditional love home situations either, so it's not like they're able to provide her advice or reassurance on how omegas should interact. I think she's just trying not to get in your way, Darcy."

Tony added, "Plus, I mean, the way she thanked Natasha and I for helping her made it seem like part gratitude but mostly being sorry for causing us trouble."

"Well, that's just silly. And that I can totally fix, don't you worry Cap and Bucky Bear!" Darcy said enthusiastically.

"What. Did I say. About. Calling. Me. That?" I ground out, using my most menacing Winter Soldier voice. To my disgust, Darcy just giggled and reached up to muss my hair. "I remember when you used to be afraid to touch me."

"Yeah, those were the days, weren't they?" Darcy teased. Then she blew Steve and I air kisses and shoved us toward the elevator saying, "now, go take care of _your_ _omega_, and make sure to bring her up at dinner time. We gotta start making sure she knows she's welcome!"

"That woman doesn't know what's good for her," I grumbled out once the elevator doors had shut behind us.

"Nah, she just trusts you." Steve said, giving me a little shove with his shoulder, "You gotta start getting used to that. I mean, you want Steph to trust you, right?"

"Of course I do."

As soon as we were alone in our apartment with Steph again, I gently picked her up and laid back down on the couch on my back with her on top of me. I sat up so Steve could sit down and have us sprawled across his lap.

"So, did we hear that right? You're going to stay with us?" I asked hopefully.

Steph chewed her lip nervously then looked up at Steve and said, "if it's not too much trouble I thought I might. You know, at least until you get sick of me."

"Never happen," Steve and I replied in sync.

"Well, we'll see, okay?" Steph said before settling in with her head on my sternum. "How are you both so comfortable? You're all muscle-y; I feel like laying on you should be like laying on the ground."

"Guess you just fit well," Steve said softly. "Now, I think we can watch pretty much anything that exists, so what'll it be? What cheers you up when you're not feeling your best?"

"_Ghostbusters_! It's my all-time favorite inspirational movie!"

"How does one bust a ghost?" Steve asked hesitantly.

The TV turned on and Steph shifted around so she could watch, and I said, "guess we're about to find out."

It took about 10 minutes into the movie with me rubbing her back gently and Steve massaging her scalp for Steph to fall back asleep. As the movie rolled on, I watched her sleep more than I watched the actual movie. When the credits started rolling, I said to Steve, "are we really going up for dinner? If so, Steph might want to wear something other than my boxers and your shirt. I'm pretty sure the uniform she came in with was incinerated., and I don't think she'd felt comfortable leaving any clothes here yet."

"If I may," JARVIS interrupted, "some clothes were brought for Stephanie by her associates and given to Natasha."

I leaned up a little so Steve could slide out from under me, even as he said, "I'll go find out where she put them."

The movement caused Steph to shift around and start to wake up. When she finally opened her eyes, she looked around sleepily.

"Steve went to track down the clothes your friends brought you, so that you have something else to put on if and when you want to. We're hoping you'll feel up to going to have dinner with the team because they're eager to get to know you better."

She looked so adorable and soft I couldn't keep myself from sliding her up my body for better access, craning up my neck to give her a kiss. At first she seemed surprised, but she quickly melted into both the kiss and me. Not wanting to frighten her, I let Steph control the pace and tone of the kiss once it got going. What began as something soft, slowly started growing as Steph became more confident in it.

I lost track of time as things started to heat up, but was dimly aware of the front door opening and Steve walking in. He walked quietly into the living room, clearly trying not to interrupt as he set something down on the ground and settled into a chair across from us.

During the times when Steph hadn't been around over the course of the week of dates we'd had before everything had been thrown off by Steph's assault, Steve and I had talked on numerous occasions about this type of thing. We were both happy to let things evolve at whatever pace Steph was comfortable with. Additionally we knew that Steph would probably feel safest moving to each new step and phase along the way with me, the beta, before Steve, the alpha. And Steve was plenty enthusiastic about whatever could and would happen between Steph and I, so I wasn't worried about him getting upset over a kiss or anything more.

Steph caught me by surprise when she shifted so that she was next to me rather than on top of me. When she struggled and pulled some more, I let her move me- she wouldn't be able to on her own. Much to my surprise, she settled us with me on top of her. I heard Steve shifting a little uncomfortably, and paused worried that maybe he wasn't actually okay with our actions. One of his hands reached out and stroked along my arm though, reassuring me, so I let myself get lost in Steph once more.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed when Steph shifted and presented the side of her neck to me, tilting her chin up to give me better access. I froze in my place, not exactly sure what she wanted or was offering.

Very much not wanting to make a misstep, I pulled back and asked, "Steph?"

"I'm not asking for a bonding bite, Bucky. Not yet. But I was hoping you'd give me a scent mark? If it's okay?" I was a little worried about the fact that she wasn't meeting my eyes until I realized it was because her eyes were locked with Steve who was leaning forward in anticipation.

The marking we'd been doing on her wrist was along the lines of flirting. When we'd first done so, wrist on wrist, it was very minor, closer to a greeting really. And something a friend might do for another friend who was being harassed by interested parties. Moving on to using our mouths on her wrists was more flirty. It provided a stronger scent mark, and signified that we were just starting out in the relationship, finding our way with each other.

What Steph was asking for was MUCH more serious. It very clearly and unambiguously signaled _intent_. It meant you hadn't made a permanent bond yet, but you were planning to do so, and likely very soon. I studied Steph for a little longer, wanting to make sure she was sure about this. Her body was still lax below me, and none of the scents I was getting from her were anywhere in the ballpark of anxiety or uncertainty. And what I could smell of Steve, despite being so close to and wrapped around Steph, were the scents of satisfaction, anticipation, and arousal.

Slowly, I leaned a little closer, and pressed an urgent, somewhat claiming kiss on Steph's lips. She shifted under me as though she was trying to get closer and let out a little whimper as I trailed my lips lower, ghosting them along her throat. I paused at her pulse point which was layered with the scenting and bonding gland before moving down the rest of the way. On the way back up, I dragged my tongue along her skin. When I reached the spot where her scent was produced, I stopped, this time staying to lavish it with attention.

Steph went crazy under me, and it took everything I had in me to resist the urge to grind against her. I lightly skimmed my teeth along, careful not to actually press down and drawing out a whine that was quickly muffled. Turning my head to the side, I found out why- Steve had knelt next to the couch and fastened his lips to Steph's. One of his hands ran up my back and to my neck before encouraging me to turn my head back to what I had been doing. I was more than happy to comply, especially when I sensed Steve move down to the other side of her neck to do the same.

Way sooner than I wanted, I felt Steve pull back. Knowing what was coming, I eased back to soft kisses and moved back up to Steph's lips for a couple more closed-mouth kisses before allowing Steve to drag me back gently but firmly. Unable to resist, I allowed Steve to pull me in so we could each re-apply our bond bites on each other quickly as well as enjoy the smell of Steph on each other. When we drew apart, Steph was resting below where I was kneeling between her legs and smiling up at us.

"You don't have to hide that around me, you know. It won't freak me out or make me feel unwanted. I know you've been together a long time, and I'm honored that you're welcoming me in to what you have already established."

Beaming, Steve leaned down to give her another kiss but kept it brief before saying, "we're honored that you'd take us on." Leaning back, he pulled me all the way off the couch and helped Steph stand slowly. With a careful arm around her waist, he started guiding her. Reaching down with his off hand to pick up the bag, he started leading Steph down the hallway to our master suite.

"I'm not saying you have to stay down here with us- you can sleep wherever you feel most comfortable. But if you thought the other bathroom was nice, we're going to have to insist that you use this one today. We'd like to bring you upstairs for dinner. Nothing fancy, just casual. You could wear what you have on, but you have options in this bag. We'll be waiting out here in case you have any problems. A shower probably isn't a good idea just yet considering how shaky you are."

"Just take your time, no rush," I added. "If you start getting dizzy or anything, just sit."

Once Steph had shut the bathroom door behind her with a squeal of delight at what she found inside, I collapsed onto our big bed. Steve slid in next to me, "she smells so good on you and you on her. Gonna drive me crazy."

"Best kind of crazy you've ever had in your life, Punk."

I snagged his hand in mine and settled in to wait, still buzzing on the high of shared passion.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_**Darcy's POV**_

In a lot of ways, I wasn't exactly your typical omega. I was loud, opinionated, and willful. I did whatever the fuck I wanted when I wanted and there wasn't much you could do about it if you disapproved. When I'd met Jane, interviewing for the internship position that had changed my life, it was that shared quality that had drawn us together. Jane was an omega making waves in the science community and demanding that things were true no matter how many alphas and betas yelled at her that she was crazy or stupid and didn't know what she was talking about. I liked to think our kindred spirits are why she hired me, but the fact that I was the only applicant probably also helped.

Then Thor had shown up on Earth, and although he was definitely an alpha (and how convenient was it that Asgard had the same dynamics as Midgard making them compatible with us earthlings?), he encouraged Jane in her work. And he encouraged me in my… everything… offering me support and protection without trying to control me. His acceptance was later adopted and reinforced by the various Avengers as we met them and moved into the Tower.

Thor had been apprehensive about the move for my sake. He knew that there were unbonded people who were very powerful and also lived in the tower, and he didn't want me to feel uncomfortable. Thankfully Avengers Tower had been designed by an omega with support from a beta. That meant that there were all kinds of safety precautions for heats. Heat rooms with state of the art air filtration systems, scent-blocking doors, and under JARVIS's control on the most robust servers available anywhere in SI other than those that ran JARVIS and Tony's suits.

Meeting Steve and Bucky had been a nerve wracking idea, and I'd been wildly intimidated until it actually happened. From the second they walked in and I smelled them, I knew we were fine. They didn't smell bad, but they also didn't smell particularly compelling. With a sigh of relief from all three of us, they neatly slid into the roles of protective big brothers.

There was a small part of me that was predictably omega though, and that part was in the kitchen frantically cooking up a storm in preparation for a "family" meal with Steph as a special guest. Sam had walked in and wordlessly started assisting by chopping up things I handed to him.

"You know she hasn't had anything other than, from what I hear, some chicken broth, in her stomach for a week. She won't be able to eat any of this."

"Not true, she can eat the plain rice, probably. And I've got some apples going for some homemade applesauce as well. And that, over there," pointing to the bowl in the corner, "is going to be some bread that I'll use to make her some toast if she wants some. It's just dough right now..."

"It isn't about you, Darcy. I hope you know that."

"I do, I know that, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't do everything in my power to fix it." When Sam just sighed, I said, "I want her for them. The three of them are so right. If my presence is hindering her ability to feel comfortable, through no fault of either of ours, then I'm going to make sure to break that wall down for all three them."

Bruce walked into the kitchen and started filling the electric kettle, not even pretending he hadn't been listening as he added his opinion. "I think you're right, Darcy. If you go out of your way to make her feel welcome, not that you've been doing anything wrong to make her feel unwelcome, I think you'll be able to help her get over her reservations quickly. You're impossible to resist."

The last was said in a grumbly manner, but I knew he didn't mean it that way. Bruce had tried so hard to stay to the fringes of the family, but I'd led the charge, dragging him in kicking and screaming. He'd been so spooked with fear of hurting the people he cared about that he'd tried to not care about anyone. Once I'd managed to prove that he already did care about us all, he'd reluctantly dropped his guard and let us all in. The fact that he was actively supporting _adding_ another person to our crazy family,and thus the list of people he cared about, showed just how far he had come.

In silence the three of us worked together on the meal, and it wasn't lost on me that we were the only unbonded holdouts. At least, once Steve and Bucky stopped being overly cautious and gentlemanly and got around to actually bonding Steph. When the prep work was finished, the two men left me alone to do the actual cooking, as was my preference. I had JARVIS crank up some tunes and got to work, dancing around the kitchen while I cooked.

I had just finished slicing the loaves of bread with a celebratory shake of my hips when I turned and saw the new triad in question sitting at the breakfast bar together watching me. Steph was snuggled into Bucky's lap with Steve's hand on her thigh from the seat next to them.

"Hey, Steph!" I said with a big, one hundred percent genuine, smile. "How are you feeling? It's so good to see you up and about!"

She offered me a meager smile, but it was progress, so I took that to heart. Quietly she responded, "I'm doing okay. Completely wiped out, but I'm fine otherwise."

"Well, I'm glad you're joining us." I didn't specify for dinner because I hoped it would be for more than just dinner. "The others should be filtering in shortly."

They sat in silence for a few beats until Steph gestured at everything I had going in the kitchen. "I'm impressed; I've always been hopeless in the kitchen."

I shrugged and said, "it's something my great grandma and I used to do together. When she passed, I just kept going. It was a fun way to remember her."

"That's nice," Steph said with an open smile. It clouded over a little as she added, "pretty much any time I tried as a kid, it ended with my mom telling me that I was hopeless and I'd wind up alone because I was useless as an omega."

Steve and Bucky both had devastated looks on their faces, but I just shrugged and made eye contact as I said, "that's just stupid of her. Being able to cook or not doesn't make someone an omega. And lucky for you, you've found yourself an alpha who is quite handy in the kitchen. We don't hold much stock here to those kinds of expectations, which is good because pretty much everyone will tell you that cooking and making sure people eat is about the only omega thing I do. I'm hell at housekeeping, and I couldn't keep my mouth shut and do what some alpha told me, unless it also happened to be what I wanted, if my life depended on it."

I'd been watching the others filter in, and it was Thor who spoke next, causing Steph to jump and dig her nails into Bucky's arms around her waist in reflex before relaxing. "It is true, Darcy is an omega full of spirit. The first time I met her, she felled me with her handheld lightning gun!"

The entire last sentence was said by everyone who had gathered in attendance in unison because Thor said that _all_ the time. Generally every time he was there when I was being introduced to someone for the first time. Thor took a large step toward Steph like a big, lovable dog who wanted everyone to be his best friend, and she shrank into Bucky reflexively. At the same time, Jane's hand whipped out and latched onto his arm, pulling him back.

Thor looked confused but allowed himself to be brought to heel by the tiny woman. That reaction alone seemed to cause Steph to relax almost instantly. She offered a hesitant smile and started to get to her feet, accepting help from Steve and Bucky as she did so. I watched a little of the brightness dim from Thor's eyes, as he took in her mannerism. Gently he drew Jane in front of him and shoved her forward. "You must be Stephanie; I am sorry if I startled you. I was merely excited to meet the one who means so much to my friends. I am Thor, and this is my lady Jane. I regret that we were unable to meet you until now, but we were required on Asgard for a ceremony."

"Their bond was being officially recognized by Thor's dad, Odin," I whispered enthusiastically. "They've been bonded for a year, but he refused to acknowledge that fact until recently. None of us were allowed to go with them, but I'm still hoping one day!"

My fingers were crossed and Steph looked over and giggled. Realizing that everyone was now present, I shooed them over to the big dining room table. Once they had Steph seated, Steve and Bucky came in to help me carry in dishes. Bucky nudged at me with his elbow and whispered, "thanks, Darcy." I was pretty sure it was thanks not just for preparing dinner, but for beginning my work on setting Steph at ease.

Bruce came in to grab mugs of ginger tea for himself and Steph while Natasha made sure everyone else had drinks. Steph seemed to spend most of the meal trying to gauge how everyone interacted instead of just behaving naturally. A few times I noticed her open her mouth during some silences as though she was going to say something, only to turn back to her plate and carefully study its contents.

"What's on your mind, Steph? Is the rice not cooked all the way?" I asked.

"No! The rice is good, and it seems to be settling nicely in my stomach. Thanks."

"Sure, try the applesauce and the toast. Ooooh! Or a banana. We have bananas."

"Maybe in a few minutes," she said with a small smile.

"Anything else?" Sam asked, clearly having observed the same behavior I had.

"I.. uh… it's." Steph flushed and then said, "no, it's fine. It can wait. I'm getting the impression that you don't talk business at the table." The last bit was muttered so quietly that I barely heard her.

"Actually, Steph." Pepper said casually, "usually no one can shut up about business at the table. Yours is just the only interesting business they have at the moment, and Steve asked us all to try not to talk about it until you brought it up. Trust me, not talking about it is killing them all, and you certainly won't offend anyone by doing so."

"Oh," Steph said in surprise. She turned and looked at Steve with wide eyes and said, "can I?"

Steve heaved a sigh and said, "remember? You can do whatever you want, Steph."

Steph's smile was radiant in that moment before she turned serious again and said, "what exactly happened?"

"What do you remember?" Sam asked carefully.

"I remember realizing Hector, Woody, and I were about to get ambushed and Hector telling me to run if anyone made it into the van. I remember someone cutting a hole into the van and starting to run. Then just… really embarrassing and horrifying bits and pieces that I hope to God Natasha and Tony take with them to the grave."

Both omegas just nodded in solidarity, something that normally Tony wouldn't agree to without at least a little teasing first which clued me in on how bad it must have been. I mean, I'd known it was bad, but if Tony wasn't willing to joke about something, it was SERIOUSLY messed up. I mean, he joked about the Hulk all the time.

"You were given a drug, most likely by inhalation. From what we've been able to find out, the drug they gave your skip the day we met you that turned him into an alpha was called 'Hercules.' And the drug was given to you was its counterpart. They called it 'Hebe'," Clint explained.

I snorted out a laugh and muttered "figures, the dumb shits." Everyone looked at me in surprise, and I shrugged. "Hercules is the Roman name for the god the Greeks called Heracles. But the stories and mythology differ. Hebe was Heracles's wife, not Hercules's. Figures they couldn't keep that straight."

"Alright, well, that's probably the least offensive thing they've done, at any rate," Tony said and I stuck my tongue out at him.

Clint continued, unfazed, "I was able to do some preliminary work finding some sources, and it seems the group is calling themselves 'Anicetus' after one of Hebe's sons with the god. The name Anicetus means 'unconquerable one'. They're an off-shoot of HYDRA. Given the names they've chosen, for themselves and the drugs, and the fact that they tried to trigger your heat and kidnap you, we have some speculations about what they want to accomplish."

Steph had gone even whiter in the face and she stuttered out, "they wanted to force me to breed with someone who was on that other drug, didn't they?"

"Most likely," Bruce said calmly. "But you kept them from doing that."

Steph was looking more than a little green around the gills, so I tilted my head and said, "more questions later?"

She blew out a steadying breath and said, "One more: the men who attacked me are in prison, but are any of them rolling on anyone higher up? I can only assume they're going to keep trying to experiment on people."

"Not yet," Natasha said smoothly, "but we'll keep working on it."

With that conversation kind of steered itself back to less intense territory, and no one blamed Steph for quieting down for a bit as she contemplated that new information. We'd finished eating but were sitting around socializing when JARVIS cut in on the conversation, "Pardon me, but there is a woman downstairs claiming to be Stephanie's mother and demanding to see her daughter."

"Has she used the phrase 'why me?' at all?" Stephanie asked.

"Several times, in fact," came the reply.

"Well, then, that'd be her. JARVIS, tell her I'm on my way. Sorry everyone, I'm just going to go downstairs for a moment if you don't mind," Steph said with a sigh that made it very clear that she would rather not do so.

Flashing back on what she'd said about her mother earlier, I stood with a hand gesture to Steve and Bucky to stay down. I walked around the table and hooked my arm with Steph's and said, "why don't I keep you company?"

We'd already made it onto the elevator before Steph could respond, and I was only mildly surprised to see that Natasha had snuck in with us. "Really, you don't have to come with me, I'll be fine."

"We nontraditional omegas have to stick together!" I replied a tad forcefully, but I really wanted Steph to know she wasn't alone.

Natasha was nodding in agreement while Steph said, "really, it isn't going to be pretty. She's going to yell and cause a scene. I promise to get her out of here as quickly as I can, but there's no reason you should have to subject yourselves to that. Especially you, Natasha. People know who you are; I'm sure you don't want the bad publicity."

Natasha actually laughed out loud before responding, "trust me, Steph. I was an assassin and the whole world knows it. I've had much worse things said about me publicly and in the media than could possibly be said about me as a result of anything that happens in that lobby. And even if that somehow doesn't end up being true, I won't hold it against you because you did warn me. Like Darcy said, we've gotta stick together."

The elevator doors opened into the lobby and we were almost immediately greeted by a shrill, "Stephanie Michelle Plum! What is the matter with you?"

"I don't know, Ma, why don't you tell me?" Stephanie said in exasperation.

"You throw ridiculous accusations around at an upstanding citizen, an _alpha_ no less. Then you leave town without any warning, shun your familial responsibilities, and run off to live with a bunch of men! As if there weren't already too many of them, I find you here with even more men after having your picture flashed all over the news! Did you see the pictures? Why, you're practically nude! And you're filthy! I know I didn't raise my daughter that way! Why me? Why did I have to get the daughter who just doesn't know her place?"

I could feel my own brows raised in disbelief and when I looked over at Natasha, her face was unusually expressive. The expression definitely was not approval, but what I found more interesting and set alarm bells off in my head was the way Natasha's gaze was fixed on the phone in Mrs. Plum's hand. Natasha almost always carried a communicator on her wrist, usually disguised as a bracelet. When she put her wrist up to her mouth and muttered something, I stepped closer and behind her much as she'd told me to do if ever there was "trouble."

Steph's mom continued to rail on her, and you could tell it was getting to her by the way her shoulders were drooping. She looked about to finally defend herself when the doors to the Tower opened and a man who looked to be about six feet tall and absolutely wreaked of alpha strode in.

"Mom, what did you do?" Steph asked doing a decent job of hiding the fear I was sure she felt if the man was who I thought he was. He was lean hipped, muscular, with a scar over one eye, and ever-so-slightly wavy black hair. In a way, he looked like he could be a cast member of _The Sopranos_.

"Cupcake, I've come to bring you home," the man said more softly than I was expecting.

Steph just started backing up and shaking your head, so I shadowed Natasha as she moved closer, unwilling to move outside her protective range with an unfamiliar and likely unstable Alpha around.

"What have you been doing? You smell like… another alpha," he spat out furiously.

"Where I live and what I do are not of your concern, Morelli." Steph spoke shakily, and I could tell she was quickly running out of the very little energy she had in the first place.

"Who's your friend? She's unbonded and kinda cute. She can come with us," his chocolate eyes fixed on mine and I managed to keep from gagging. Apparently my lack of response was boring for him, so he turned back to Steph and frowned. She'd made no move in his direction, and he clearly took fault with that. That was when he brought out his Alpha Voice to try to subdue her. "Stephanie, get over here right now. You're coming with me."

The Stark Industries guards started shifting forward at that, apparently very unhappy with the fact that he was blatantly attempting to coerce her into complying. Steph whined in the back of her throat and looked like it was taking everything in her to disobey. I couldn't really blame her on that, I wasn't even the one he was commanding and I was uncomfortable with the fact that he wasn't being obeyed.

Hearing the ding of the elevator behind us, I turned just enough to see the door out of the corner of my eye, but not enough to put my back to the man. When I realized who it was, I relaxed just a little. Steve and Clint strode out first, bringing with them equally protective and aggressive scents. This time it was Mrs. Plum who shrank back, and I couldn't stop the smirk of satisfaction. Bucky was trailing behind the two alphas and while they went up and got right in the other alpha's face, Bucky quickly moved to Steph and put a supportive arm around her waist. He was murmuring in her ear, and I watched her loosen up just a little. A couple more words and she actually giggled.

"Cupcake, now!" the man yelled.

Bucky just picked her up gently and moved toward the elevator with Natasha and I scrambling in behind him. As the door closed, I heard the satisfying sound of fist hitting flesh and Steve growling at the man that he would never speak to Steph that way again.

Steph had her face buried in Bucky's neck and no one said anything as the elevator rose and the doors opened on Bucky and Steve's floor. He strode out with Steph in his arms and the doors shut taking Natasha and I back to where everyone else was waiting. Jane had a concerned look on her face, so I settled in next to her and Thor on the couch. The TV in front of us was lit up with security footage of the lobby. Popcorn was being passed around as Cap repeatedly hit the guy only to pick him up and threaten him again.

Tony let out a low whistle, "he wasn't lying when he said he hates bullies."

"No he was not," Sam replied before turning and looking at me appraisingly. "You okay?"

I smiled at him gratefully and nodded my head. Contemplatively, I thought out loud, "I wonder what she ever saw in that guy."

"I have a feeling it has more to do with what her family, or at least her mother, saw in him," Natasha said angrily.

"Kind of makes you wonder how she ended up so… nice," I mused.

"Certainly puts a tally in the nature column of the nature versus nurture debate," Bruce agreed.

I felt Natasha's hand settle gently on my shoulder and she praised, "thank you for moving to where I could protect you when he came in."

"I wanted you to know where I was so you didn't have to split your attention if he went on the attack."

The hand patted me softly and she said, "exactly right."

We watched as Steve finally threw Morelli out of the building. And by that I mean he actually picked him up and threw him back out the front door with a clearly upset Mrs. Plum scampering after him.

Clint and Steve both got in the elevator, but a minute later it was only Clint who stepped off the elevator into the common room. "Steve says they'll see us tomorrow," he announced. No one made any further comment as we all settled in and JARVIS flipped the TV over to the next movie on our to-watch list.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_**Steph's POV**_

I woke up the next morning with no blanket on me, but plenty warm with Steve and Bucky on either side of me. Behind me, I could feel Bucky spooning me pressed into every inch of my body he could. For his part, Steve was in front of me, facing me and pressed in as best he could with my head resting in the crook of his neck. I could feel Steve's arm running across my hip and from the pressure, I could tell that he was using it to hug Bucky even closer into me.

With a contented sigh, I snuggled into Steve even more and felt Bucky move in unison with me to stay pressed up against me.

"Good morning, Doll," they said at the same time.

"No morning is good until there has been a significant input of caffeine, but I could get used to waking up like this."

Pressing a kiss to my forehead, Steve asked cautiously, "could your stomach actually handle coffee right now? It's a few steps above the plain food you were eating yesterday."

"I don't think you fully understand the situation, Captain," I grumbled. "It's in everyone's best interest that we try."

Feeling Bucky's chest shake with stifled laughter, I reached up and back to pinch his arm. "Ouch, message received, Steph."

When Bucky rolled out of bed, I was hit with cool air from that side that sent a chill through me. Of course, Steve felt it and immediately reached down to snag a blanket and wrap it around me tightly using both arms to hug me close.

"How long have you both been awake?" I asked, knowing that they had both been awake before me.

"Couple of hours," came the steady reply in Steve's deep voice to which I was quickly becoming addicted.

"And is this what you normally do for the first 'couple' of hours you're awake?"

"Not exactly, no."

I sighed, "Steve-"

He cut me off before I could say they didn't need to do that and apologize for altering their schedule. "Steph, we wanted to be here when you woke up, and we like holding you while you sleep, okay? It's new, so we indulged. Especially after last night."

Last night had been intense. After he'd carried me upstairs and into the apartment, Bucky had pinned me to the wall, kissing the hell out of me and absolutely bathing me in his scent. He'd only stopped a few minutes later when the door opened and Steve came in. We could both smell a whiff of blood, but Steve wasn't injured so I'd figured that it was Morelli's. Then Bucky had passed me wordlessly over to Steve, and Steve had begun the process of covering me in his scent as well.

Apparently unsatisfied that he'd gotten the smell of Morelli completely off me, Steve had taken me to the shower where I'd used their soaps to clean up before they'd dried me off and carried me into bed. Despite my begging for them to bond me, they'd resisted. We'd passed a pleasurable couple of hours, but they'd only used hands and mouths.

Bringing myself back to present, I whispered to Steve, "why didn't you bond me last night? I thought you both wanted… just like I do..."

One of his hands lifted up from my back and slid around to tip my chin up so I had to meet his gaze. "Steph, we both want to bond you, but we haven't actually had that conversation. You've been hinting that you'd like to, but you haven't outright said it. And you were unwell still- exhausted, and more than a little traumatized from the incident downstairs. You were in no shape to consent, so we weren't going to run the risk of you regretting it. I never want you to regret that, it should be special. Treasured." Bending his head down, Steve gave me a real kiss before groaning and rolling away and out of bed. "Come on, let's get you your coffee, and if we're going to continue this conversation, then Bucky should be havin' it with us."

Dragging myself out of bed, I grabbed someone's shirt off the ground and threw it over my head. A quick sniff told me it was Bucky's, which worked for me so I wandered after Steve toward the main, over-sized living room of the apartment. As I walked, I couldn't help but mutter to myself about it being just my damn luck that I'd gone and found myself a couple of morning people to fall in love with.

Reaching the end of the hallway, I looked up and saw both men looking at me with eyes that were wide and stormy with lust. Oh crap, super hearing.

Bucky started chuckling at that, which could only mean I'd said it out loud, so with all the dignity I could muster, I started toward the kitchen with my head held high. As I passed Steve, he latched gently but firmly onto my wrist and pulled me into his chest. "Do you have something to tell us?"

"Aren't you only supposed to use your superpowers for good?" I asked lamely.

Bucky snorted out a laugh and said, "no."

I poked at him with my free hand, but he caught it in his and pulled it up to his mouth for a kiss, eyes pleading with mine over it. "Oh come on, you already heard me say it, apparently. And I wanted you to bond me, so you must have known right?"

"Please?" Steve asked with pleading eyes.

"Isn't it too soon anyway?"

"Nope, I know I love you already. It's not too soon," he responded holding my gaze.

I could see nothing but truth in his eyes, and still I gaped at him until Bucky tugged on my hand to get my attention. He waited until I was looking at him to see his matching sincerity as he said, "I love you too, Steph."

I gaped at him for a minute longer then started turning my head, darting my eyes between the two. Finally I threw my hands in the air and laughed. Pointing between them both I said, "you're both crazy, you know that right?"

"Crazy about you, Doll," Bucky said cockily.

"Fine! I love you, Steve," I allowed him to see my honesty before turning back to Bucky and saying, "I love you, Bucky."

Both let out whoops and Bucky reached me first, grabbing me around the waist and tossing me into the air celebratorily before dragging me into a kiss. Reluctantly, he let Steve pull me away for his own kiss. By the time he was done, I was breathing quite heavily. With a look back toward the bedroom, I said, "so, bond?"

Steve tapped me gently on the nose as he smiled mischievously and said, "nope."

"No?" I had to have misheard that. "Sex?"

He let out one of those deep chuckles that went straight to my nether regions before saying, "nope." I looked over at Bucky with wide eyes and he just shrugged in a way that let me know he was going to let Steve take the lead on this. I tried my own version of the puppy dog eyes, but Steve held fast explaining, "the bond's more likely to take and be strong if we use a heat for it."

I knew it was true that most of the time it took more than one attempt to get the bond to completely take anyway. And he was right, it was more likely to happen on the first attempt if we waited until a heat, especially if it set off a rut for him. But still, "I just had one though, that could be _weeks_."

Weeks seemed like an eternity at the moment. Bucky turned me so I was in his arms and gave me a placating kiss before he said, "so we'll take care of you in _other_ ways in the meantime." The "like we did last night" was left off, but heavily implied.

Steve added, "Plus, you said you've never let an alpha take care of you through a heat before. You've taken care of it yourself or suppressed, so it's possible it'll trigger faster than usual if you stay around here."

Blowing out a breath I pouted and said, "fine. But if I'm having to talk about my feelings and NOT getting sex out of it at the moment, then for the love of all that is good in the world, there had better be coffee. It is too damn early."

Steve walked into the kitchen and I could hear him moving things around. Then he called out, "cream? sugar?"

"God, yes," I muttered. Before I could even realize that I hadn't really said that any louder than under my breath, I discovered that I could hear the spoon scraping the sides of the mug. "See, using his powers for good," I said to Bucky.

"Oh, so making you coffee counts as 'for good' now, does it?" Bucky asked complete with air quotes.

"Just ask yourself that question again the first time you see me without coffee in the morning."

As Steve walked in holding a blissfully large mug for me, there was the ping of JARVIS letting us know he'd "entered" our space, for lack of a better term, before he announced, "the team has gathered for breakfast if you would like to join them."

Both men eyed me in question, so I sank into a chair and said, "can we have 10 minutes first?"

JARVIS chimed again to let us know that he was no longer actively monitoring, and the guys settled down across the table from me. Figuring we might as well get it all out in the open, I eyed them warily and asked, "since we're handling the big topics this morning, kids- yea or nay?" Both of them got that lustful look in their eyes again- pupils blown wide and plenty of fire smoldering beneath the surface. I was pretty sure if I looked under the table, I'd see them doing that thing where they were each clenched the other's knee in a death grip to make sure neither of them stood up and tried to take me on the table. I whistled softly to myself as I took another sip of my coffee and said, "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the answer to that is yes."

With a calm I knew he wasn't feeling based on scent alone, Steve tilted his head to the side and asked, "why don't you tell us?" I felt my eyebrows raise in surprise, and Steve clarified, "it's up to you, Steph. We both want that, but you'd be the one who actually had to carry them and, you know, give birth. Plus, we're a team, so we all have to want it. If it isn't right for one of us, it isn't right for any of us."

Looking down at my mug, I moved it in circles and watched the coffee swirl in a mini whirlpool. "I like kids. I would probably like to have kids, but I don't want to just become one of those omegas who is all but locked in the house popping out kids in an endless stream with no life of my own."

No one said anything until I looked up. Then it was Bucky who said, "we don't want you to become that omega either, Steph. We love you just the way you are."

Steve cleared his throat and said, "we'll work something out so you can keep working as much or as little as you want. Maybe a nanny or something here in the Tower for when none of us are available. Bucky and I don't do much besides training and missions, so we can handle the bulk of the time when we're in town, or at least help out significantly. But, if there's a long call out that we really are both needed, you'll want help."

I opened my mouth to protest because it seemed outrageously expensive to keep someone around all the time for only a few days here or there, but Bucky cut me off. "I actually asked about this when we first met you, and Stark already has plans in place for something like this figuring Thor and Jane will be utilizing a setup like that soon enough, so it won't cost our family anything. And even if it did, we've each got 70 years of military back pay and compensation- me for being a POW and Steve for being frozen, which was a new category they had to make up for him and it pays pretty well. I don't think Steve would recommend it though."

I'd gotten a goofy smile on my face at the words "our family" that my men had seen, and they were sporting matching ones by the time I nodded and said, "okay then, babies, yes. Well, baby. I reserve the right to change my mind on any additional children if pregnancy is as uncomfortable or childbirth hurts as much as they say it does and I don't want to repeat it."

That didn't dim their smiles any, and I just shook my head and wandered to where my pants had been discarded, apparently, in the living room the night before. I was pulling the jeans on while juggling my mug when Bucky walked up to take it from me. Of course, I backed away from him, shielding my coffee, and he laughed. "I promise to give it back to you, Doll. I won't even take any- I prefer mine black. I just figured I'd save you from spilling." I snorted out a laugh at the implication that I'd waste coffee by spilling and he just backed up in defeat. By that point, I had my pants fully on and was trying to wedge the mug between my chin and my chest to do up the zipper and button. Realizing he wasn't going to get the mug away, Bucky just stepped forward and did up my pants. Smiling, I tip toed up to give him a kiss and saw Steve laughing behind him holding shirts for each of them.

"I wonder if Tony can program JARVIS to start coffee for you when you wake up," he mused half playfully once we made it to the elevator.

As we were in a public space, JARVIS was monitoring us and replied, "I can do that already without additional programming. And I assure you it will not require an increased level of monitoring to accomplish. Shall I proceed?"

"Yes, please!" I said happily.

As we stepped out into the common floor, everyone looked up and called out a greeting. Bruce eyed my mug and walked toward me with a frown. "Is that coffee? That's probably not the best idea. Let me take that and make you some tea."

He stopped abruptly when I bared my teeth and said, "if you touch this, I will kick you in the nuts as hard as I can."

He let out a startled laugh and said, "you know, most people don't threaten me these days."

"Well, don't try to take my coffee, especially my first cup, and I'll happily join most people in that!"

Tony was watching us in interest and he clapped his hands before declaring, "taking on Big Green fearlessly! I like it, you can stay!"

I rolled my eyes because that was a given at this point anyway, and when I looked up, Darcy's eyes caught mine. She made a delighted noise and sang out, "she _is_ staying!" Before jumping up and doing an odd victory dance.

I felt my face flush and I buried it in Bucky's chest. He made a soothing noise even as Steve boasted, "yes, she is!"

"Why haven't you bonded yet then?" Clint asked, not caring about how extremely personal that question was.

"Is it not traditional on Midgard to wait for a heat to do so? I assume given the events that transpired before our return from Asgard, they'll have to wait some time to complete the bond," Thor mused loudly and poetically.

I could hear Jane hissing at him about that being personal, but it was already out there. Natasha was the one who responded, saying, "it may not be common anymore, but it is an _old_ _fashioned_ tradition. One that suits."

Clearing my throat, I tried to get the flush off my face as Bucky just held me to his chest and slowly, steadily walked me backward. When he stopped and gently eased me away from him, I realized we were in the relative privacy of the floor's kitchen. It was open to the rest of the floor but set away far enough to give us some space. Plus, he'd guided me into the corner and he and Steve were blocking me from the rest of the group.

"Okay, Steph?" Bucky asked.

"Yes, sorry, I was just raised to not discuss heats so openly like that," I said. "And it's not like the Rangemen were ever talking about it."

"I'd like to comfort you by saying they aren't usually like that, but, well... They definitely aren't the best with boundaries. Especially Thor," Steve said.

"That's fine, I just need to get used to it, that's all! I'm sure in some ways it'll be nice when I do," I reassured him.

"Especially with Natasha and Darcy," added Bucky.

"And Tony," I added fairly, though neither man looked overly sure of that one.

Looking around Steve asked, "how are you feeling breakfast wise? Want some eggs and bacon?"

"Maybe just some toast?" I still wasn't overly sure of my stomach, and thought it would be good to soak up the coffee. "I can handle that if you can show me where the bread and the toaster are. Probably. I assume JARVIS supervises and there is a fire extinguisher?"

At that, Bucky just laughed and steered me back out of the kitchen settling with me at the table. "We're going to need to give you a tour, Steph. I'm sorry we haven't gotten around to that yet," he said.

"What have you seen so far?" Darcy asked as she settled in to the table across from me.

The others started to filter in as I said, "well, I've seen Bucky and Steve's apartment. The lobby. This room, the kitchen, and the things I pass getting here from the elevator. Oh, and the medical floor and the conference room from the first day, but I'm not sure I could find either again. I wasn't entirely with it when I saw those."

"Then you have lots of material to cover," Pepper said.

"That we do," Bucky replied happily. A few short minutes later, Steve was walking up with a plate of toast for me, and larger breakfast plates for himself and Bucky. After directing the others to "leftovers" in the kitchen, he settled in on my other side to eat. Both men managed to polish out an insane amount of food in the same amount of time it took me to make my way through the toast.

"Do you want anything else? Anything more?" Darcy asked when I finished.

"No, thanks, but I'm thinking I might go crazy at lunch and have some jam with my bread."

"Or maybe some vegetables and chicken with your soup," Steve said.

"That sounds suspiciously _healthy, _why would I want to do that?" When Clint reached across the table to offer me a fist bump at my retort, I gladly leaned over Bucky to take him up on it. As they started guiding me around the Tower, I asked, "so, if you hadn't been holding me while I slept this morning, what would you have been doing?"

"Well, we usually start off with a quick run. Then we would head to the gym for strength training and sparring. Various training drills if people were up for it, otherwise we'd just hang out. Read, draw, or whatever."

"You do all of that in the morning?"

"Yep."

"How long do you run?"

"Half an hour or so."

"Oh, is that right?" I asked, casting a sideways glance at Bucky and when I saw his smile rolling my eyes. That made Sam laugh, so I figured I was onto something when I said, "uh huh. Well, that doesn't sound like a very big workout for someone who needs to be able to fight for hours on end. Unless of course, the answer to my next question is as completely ridiculous as I think it will be."

"Okay, what's the question?"

"How far do you typically run in that thirty minutes?"

"Depends," Bucky started off answering instead of Steve this time.

"On?"

"How far we want to go and whether or not we're feeling it that morning?"

"You're stalling, why?"

"Because we are hoping you'll agree to let us work with you some. Make sure you can handle anything that gets thrown at you on the streets."

"And we don't want to scare you off from that Steph. We're different, and we know it. We won't have unreasonable expectations or push you any harder than you're willing and able to go," Steve cut back into the conversation.

"Just answer the question, Steve."

"Anywhere between 15 and 20 miles on a regular basis. More if we need to push ourselves."

"In thirty minutes."

"Yes."

"Would you say that's more jog or sprint for you?"

"Jog."

"That's…" I trailed off at a loss.

"Impressive," Sam supplied.

"Yes, that," I said snapping my fingers and pointing at him. Turning back to Steve and Bucky I said, "and I hate to break it to you, but I don't run."

"Okay," Steve said suspiciously easily.

"Just okay?" I asked in disbelief.

"Sure, Doll," Bucky smoothly cut in. "Like we said, we're not going to force you to do anything more than you're willing to do. Plus, I figure that Rangeman has fitness qualification rules that you probably have to meet even if you only work for them part-time, but especially if Ranger is trying to get you to sign on full time. If that's all you want, then that's fine. We aren't going to make you. Though I do feel obligated to point out that being able to run after the people you're after is probably a good thing."

Taking it in parts, I responded, "they do have quarterly fitness evaluations. I had a hell of a time getting to the point that I wouldn't hinder my ability to stay there, unless there were extenuating circumstances."

"And?" Steve prodded.

"Fine, you got me. I do run, but it's not pretty when I do, and I'm not doing it with you."

"You can run with me," Darcy piped in. "I'm slow, I get all gross and puffy and red, and I pretend that this group lets me run alone when they actually take turns rotating around me and making sure nothing happens. Usually at least three of them on a tail a day, and probably something creepy from JARVIS."

"The Merry Men tail me too; it's cute that they think I haven't figured that out."

"We'll have to let them all work out a schedule. Otherwise we'll have six tails!"

"We can try."

"And other training?" Bucky asked eagerly. "I haven't gotten to really train someone in a long time."

"He's a good teacher," Natasha said quietly right in my ear.

"Fine, we'll see how it goes, Bucky. But I'm not sure it's a good idea. I get frustrated, and moody, and-"

"I'm sure he can handle it," Natasha said, this time loud enough for all to hear, "but if not, Clint and I will take over."

"Okay."

"And not until you get cleared by a doctor," Steve said in a no-nonsense tone, but softening the blow by giving me a gentle kiss.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Steve's POV**_

I still couldn't believe our luck that Steph was willing to take us on, and I knew Bucky felt the same way. We'd talked through with her and ourselves the kind of lives we lead and what it would mean for her. Despite the difficulties, she felt it was worth it. And given the things she'd seen herself, she knew that even if we were accountants, it was entirely possible that we could be taken away from her any day. Just as we knew the same about each other and Steph, but as crazy as it sounded, we were still all three willing to risk it.

We'd taken the tour of the Tower in parts, stopping to rest probably more frequently than actually required considering how well Steph seemed to actually be doing. Still, I didn't want her to push it and have her recovery take longer than it should. That day had finished with more snuggling on the couch and a repeat of the night before when we got to bed.

This time when we woke up the next morning, we went for our usual run and an abbreviated trip to the gym. Of course when we got back to the apartment and Steph was still sleeping, we rushed through cleaning up and got back into bed. She didn't stay asleep too much longer, but it was still nice to get to do both.

After breakfast, Steph brought up one of the topics I'd wanted to but was waiting for her to take the lead on: moving in. Although that wasn't exactly how she phrased it.

"I was thinking it might be nice to go over to Rangeman and grab some more of my things. Would you like to join me?" Almost everyone was still present, but Steph clearly addressed the question to Bucky and I.

"I can send people to do that," Tony interjected. I would be annoyed, but I knew he was trying to be helpful, so I smiled instead.

"I just meant an overnight bag, or a single piece of luggage for now, actually," Steph said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and if you were free to help, I thought it would be good for everyone to see you again before... Everything else."

"Everything else being, moving in here, bonding, and general debauchery?" Bucky teased.

"Yes, all that," Steph responded with a grin. She started walking to the elevator, so Bucky and I followed.

"Of course we'll help, Steph," I said happily.

I was a little surprised when Steph asked, "JARVIS, would you let Darcy know we're headed over to Rangeman in a bit and she's welcome to join us for a visit if she'd like?"

There was a momentary pause in which I had my brow raised and Steph just gave me a look that clearly told me to wait.

"She would be happy to join you and will be at your apartment in 15 minutes. I have arranged a car for your trip," JARVIS replied.

"Oh, I don't know about that. There's the whole car destruction thing," Steph said chewing her lip. "I thought we'd walk, or take the subway, or maybe a cab? Then I'd just borrow a Rangeman car."

My alpha instincts weren't wild about Ranger providing for Steph in place of me or my team doing so, but I pulled those instincts back choosing to tease her instead. "So you don't want to blow up a fleet car of Tony Stark: genius playboy billionaire philanthropist, but you're willing to blow up some poor cabbie's livelihood."

Unfortunately, Steph went pale as soon as she heard that. "Oh my gosh! Do you think that's been happening? I've been taking cabs from time to time since we moved here!"

Bucky reached over and smacked me upside the head before saying, "I'm sure that hasn't been happening, Steph. We would've heard of a sudden influx of Manhattan cab explosions. Steve's just teasin'."

"Absolutely," I said. "It was a dumb joke, sorry! We'll go however you want, but seriously, don't worry about Tony's car. Natasha showed me pictures of what happened when Tony got drunk in his suit at his birthday and fought War Machine. That was a lot of damage. Much pricier than even a dozen cars."

"Okay, well, a car will certainly be easier. I'll just call and let Rangeman know to expect us when we leave."

"Great. Now Darcy?"

Steph shrugged, "I think maybe she and Ranger might be compatible."

"And you think that's something to be encouraged?" Bucky asked. Steph had told us all about her relationship with Ranger, so I was feeling similarly surprised to hear that.

"Ranger is a very good man. He walked into a room knowing he'd get shot and probably killed to save his estranged daughter and I. Most importantly, he was very upfront with me about what any relationship between the two of us could and could not be. If he acts interested in Darcy or tells her he's interested, then he is. He won't play games with her, and he isn't going to push her into anything she doesn't want. So, yes, I think we should encourage them to see if there's anything between them."

"And you're okay with the fact that you and he have..." I trailed off awkwardly before ending with, "in the past?"

"I'm completely okay with it. Is the fact that Ranger is still a good friend of mine going to be a problem for you?"

Her voice had taken on a slightly panicked quality, and it was a fair question, so I rushed to soothe her. "No, it's in the past, and Bucky and I trust you. And he helped you so much, we'll always be grateful to him for that."

Bucky was nodding along with me, so Steph relaxed a little again. When Darcy breezed in, Steph smiled and greeted her, offering soothing scents of her own, and starting a friendly banter between the two omegas to distract a clearly nervous Darcy while Bucky and I trailed behind. They hardly broke the momentum of their conversation when they reached the car, just climbed into the back seat together.

"Are we just here for eye candy?" Bucky stage whispered to me.

"No, there's plenty of that at Rangeman. You're here to make friends and also possibly to lift heavy things. Though I'll admit there is an eye candy element to the last one, but we probably won't be using those super muscles today, so they're beside the point."

"Muscles are never beside the point when they have such pretty and nice wrapping," Darcy piped in.

"That's fair," Steph said and the two went back to their conversation.

With a content sigh, Bucky settled his head on my shoulder and I put my arm around him. I didn't know how Darcy got everyone to be her friend so quickly and easily, but I was pretty sure it was a gift Steph also shared. And now that they'd made it clear that no territorial lines were being crossed, it seemed they were going to be fast friends. This would probably turn into a case of "be careful what you wish for, lest it come true."

When we pulled up to the Rangeman building, Steph rolled down her window and stuck her head out to wave at a camera. Casting a sideways glance at Bucky who I knew would be less than thrilled by that security practice, I saw his features carefully schooled. Steph looked at leaned forward and tapped Bucky on the shoulder. When Bucky met her eyes, she pulled her hand from behind her back and wiggled her key fob at him with a laugh.

"Ranger would never allow that to pass for building security, even with me."

We chuckled as she provided the driver instructions of where to park, and before I knew it, we were there. I was feeling more than a little apprehensive about the upcoming confrontation, so Bucky reached over and gave my knee a reassuring squeeze.

As we exited the car, I was expecting Steph to stay with Darcy. Instead she plastered herself to my side and stayed there as we walked. My arm was thrown around her shoulder, her head was tucked into my chest, and both her arms were around my waist.

Apparently a tour of Rangeman started in the garage with fleet vehicles, a firing range, and an armory, all of which Steph pointed out to us. When we stepped into the elevator, Steph ran her key fob over a panel and selected the second floor. Here she showed us conference rooms, then on the next floor, the fitness facilities. When we got to the control floor, we were greeted with silence.

Ranger was waiting right next to the elevator door, and when we walked out, he greeted us all before settling in close to Darcy.

"Hi Darcy, it's good to see you. Steph didn't mention you'd be joining us."

"Oh, I, uh, yeah." Darcy stammered, "I can leave if that's not..."

"No! I'm glad you're here," Ranger replied in a way that sounded suspiciously close to being unsure of himself. I raised a brow as I looked at Bucky over the top of Steph's head, and saw him with a small smirk on his face. We'd both returned to passive faces when Ranger looked over at the three of us again. "Is everything okay?"

"Yep," Steph said happily, "just came to pick up a few more of my things. And I wanted to see everyone I hadn't been able to see yet."

Conversation had just started to pick up again on the floor, and several of the men were walking forward to greet Steph, when Darcy chimed in with, "you told them about how Morelli showed up the day before yesterday, right?"

With that we were back to being able to hear a pin drop, even if you weren't one of us with enhanced hearing.

"Wow, you really can't tiptoe, can you?" Steph asked wide-eyed. She turned to the rest of the men and rubbed a hand across my abdomen as she said, "relax, it's been handled. And my mother was probably too scared to try that again anytime soon."

"Oh man," the one I was pretty sure was Lester Santos groaned out, "your mom was there too, Beautiful?"

Steph was getting a little upset just from the conversation in general, so I nudged her with my elbow and said, "hey, don't forget you wanted to thank Lester for letting you drive his car a couple weeks ago."

Darcy had to turn and cough to cover her smile at Lester's reaction which was every bit as hilarious as I could have hoped based on Steph's description the first night we met her. He paused for a moment as though trying to replay the words in his head and see if he'd parsed them correctly. Watching his face, it was impossible to miss the moment he realized he hadn't misheard me. Then another second of processing later, he went completely pale.

"You… what?" Lester stammered.

"It wasn't a big deal. I ran out of TastyKakes, so I borrowed your car to make a trip out and pick some up. None of the local markets had them, so I had to drive across the river to New Jersey to get them."

"In my car?" he squeaked out in response after a few moments of wordlessly opening and shutting his mouth.

Steph just shrugged. Then she moved back from her position cuddled up on me and swapped it out for grabbing onto my hand. She grabbed Bucky's with her other and started showing us around the floor, making special note of her desk, gun-shaped stapler included, and ignoring any further comments from Lester.

Without too much more delay, Steph guided us upstairs to her apartment. I looked over the door and was glad to see she'd had a top of the line heat safety system- pretty much the best possible if it wasn't a custom built Stark Industries product.

The first thing I noticed when we stepped inside was that her scent didn't smell quite strongly enough in there because she'd been gone for so long. Still, it was the predominant odor, and it made me excited to think that soon her scent would permeate our apartment at the Tower just as thoroughly but mixed in with Bucky's and my own.

Bucky had stopped a few steps into the apartment and was squatting on the floor. "Steph, who's this guy?" he asked.

Steph smiled as she walked back over, stepping into the kitchen briefly then coming out with what appeared to be grapes in her hand. "This is Rex," she said as she dropped the grapes into the cage. A small rodent came out, grabbed the treat, and ran back into the soup can he'd been hiding in. "When I'm away, Ella makes sure he's fed and the guys will frequently stop by and take him downstairs so he can sit with them while watching monitors. Probably I'll find him a permanent home downstairs when I leave. Remind me to talk to Ranger about that."

"Steph, I'm not to sure exactly what Rex is, but you can bring him with you if you want."

She looked at me a little puzzled and said, "were pet hamsters not a thing when you were a kid?"

"Certainly not for one as sick as the Punk here always was," Bucky replied easily. "But I don't think I've ever seen one either."

"Huh. Well, thanks for the offer of bringing him with, but I'm sure he'll be fine here. And I'll still get to see him plenty when I stop by." She pulled him out of the cage and when she seemed to assess that he was in a good enough mood, she passed him off to Bucky and I to hold him gently for a few minutes. "Did you ever have pets?"

"Nah," I said. "Before the war, there wasn't enough money. After I woke up, I worked such unpredictable schedules and I still get called out without notice... It wouldn't really work. If you want something though other than Rex here, Stark has already said we can get something. Might be nice for you if Bucky and I get a long mission together."

"I always kind of wanted a dog," Bucky tossed in.

"I sort of co-owned a dog with Joe," Steph whispered. "He kept Bob when I left, but that was probably best for Bob. Joe had a yard and a steady income; I had a hard enough keeping Rex in food sometimes when the bounty hunting was slow."

It was said casually enough that Bucky and I just nodded and let it go. "If you two want a dog, I wouldn't mind one."

Bucky looked excited, and Steph just smiled at the look on Bucky's face before saying, "I don't think I could say no to that," and gesturing to Bucky. "It's gotta be trained or we have to train it though. Bob always ate everything, underwear included!"

We were following Steph through the apartment, but kind of held back at her bedroom door. After wandering into what I assumed was a closet, she came back carrying a large and small bag. Much to my surprise, she tossed the small bag in my direction. Pointing to Bucky and I, she indicated the top drawer of her dresser and simply said, "knock yourselves out."

I was pretty sure I knew what I was going to find, so I moved slowly forward, but Bucky just rushed over and pulled open the drawer. With a low whistle, he commented, "nice collection, Doll."

"Once a lingerie buyer, always a lingerie buyer," Steph said with a shrug. We both looked over at her in surprise, and she said, "did that not come up yet? I was a lingerie buyer before I started bounty hunting. I have a business degree, but the company went belly up because of tax evasion and other crime convictions high up. Even though I had nothing to do with it, I couldn't find a job, so bounty hunting. I still like pretty underwear though, and I can actually afford slightly nicer stuff now, so, there you go. Like I said, knock yourselves out!"

With a nod, Bucky and I turned to the drawer and started digging through it. I felt a little weird, but Bucky just laughed at me and shook his head. "Aren't we past that point yet, Steve?" He teased.

Because I wasn't entirely sure I ever would be, I just shook my head. I watched from the corner of my eye as Steph started going through other drawers methodically. She packed up several black uniforms, workout clothes including more practical underthings, and casual clothes.

"Grab some things for going out too, Steph," I added encouragingly.

She was eyeing her already rather full bag at the suggestion when her doorbell rang. Walking over to a panel in the bedroom, she just buzzed them in. Without even looking at him, she said, "don't make that face, Bucky. I'm certain no one but a Rangeman could get up here without an alarm going off. I'm expecting Ranger and Darcy anyway, and I think you two could keep me safe if someone with ill intentions somehow made it past the Merry Men and up here."

I picked my head up from where I was working when I smelled and heard Ranger and Darcy approaching. Darcy looked ever so slightly ruffled, but not alarmingly so. And she was smiling infectiously, so I figured Steph was right. Something told me I would regularly be saying that for the rest of my life, especially where romantic relationship speculation was concerned.

Ranger leaned casually against the bedroom door, and said, "I figured you'd be taking pretty much everything, Steph."

Steph's response was a strained, "I'm trying not to upset anyone."

"Steph, can you look at me for a second?"

That finally got Steph to stop and look at Ranger who held his arms out for a hug as he said, "we're all really very happy for you." With a sniffle, Steph shuffled into his grasp and held on for a full minute. When she pulled away, Ranger put on a no-nonsense voice and said, "now, let's be realistic here. That bag isn't even big enough for your shoes."

He pushed a button on his phone and we all wandered out to the living room in time to watch several Rangeman employees walk in carrying empty boxes.

"Tell us what you want to take, and what you want to leave here, Little Girl," Tank said. "The apartment stays yours to use when you need it, it'll just be secondary. Though I'm sure Ella will go through and fully restock it tomorrow, so take whatever you want."

Hal was standing by Rex's cage and hit Steph with a pleading look as he said, "this guy is going to stay here, right?"

Steph looked over at Ranger and said, "that's up to the boss, but if you want him in the control room, that's fine with me. I'll just have to visit whenever I want my Rex fix."

"Don't turn that look on me, Hal or you'll be meeting me on the mats as soon as we finish here. Tank already cleared out a spot for the wonder hamster. And Steph still works here part time, plus the skip searches, so you'll see her even without the incentive of Rex."

"Full time," Steph whispered.

That brought out the largest, most sincere smile I'd seen from Ranger to date. "Really, Babe?"

"Why not?" Steph asked. "Seems like time to be a stable grown up."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Ranger said before reaching into the large pocket of his cargo pants and pulling out a rolled stack of papers.

I laughed and said, "Batman," with a tone of understanding which caused Ranger's lips to twitch and Steph and Darcy to both giggle.

"Why don't you sit with Ranger and go over that while the rest of us work on packing?" I suggested. "Darcy, Bucky, and I will handle the bedroom and the bathroom."

Steph waved a dismissive hand at us. When we made it into the bedroom, I pulled out my phone to let the others know about the change in plans. Pepper asked us to stop by the common floor first when we got in, and told us she'd have a moving truck at Rangeman within the next twenty minutes. Bucky and I declined actual movers, just asking for someone to drive the truck instead.

Once Steph finished with Ranger, something that had only resulted in a few lengthy moments of heated debate that I caught wind of, she joined us in the bedroom. We made quick work of packing things up as she showed Darcy where everything was, and told her she was free to use the space and anything in it if ever she wanted to for any reason.

Two hours after we'd arrived, we were on our way back to the Tower. This time, the three of us were comfortably squeezed together in one row of seats with Darcy having elected to stay behind and spend some time with Ranger. When we got back to the Tower, we went upstairs to the common room and found the rest of the team waiting. Natasha pulled Steph over to the side, and the two were whispering and had their heads together over some more paperwork, while Bucky and I walked over to the larger group.

"Okay," Pepper said in a business tone, "there are some SI employees emptying the moving truck right at this moment. We took advantage of your absence to move all your things into a new apartment more suitable for three."

"In what sense?" I asked, a little upset to have not been consulted.

"Bigger place, no regular heat room, but you've got a full safe room instead. It'll still work as a heat room, but it's a little less comfortable and luxurious and instead provides better protection in case of an attack on the tower. There's also an office for Steph and some more extra rooms just in case you want to fill them out."

I stood there dumbfounded, a confusing mix of not wanting to push Steph too fast. We'd talked about bonding on the next heat, but talking and doing were obviously two different things. She might change her mind before then and want to put it off for a while, in which case the old apartment with the old layout and heat room would be better.

At the same time, I was excited about the fact that we could all three move into this new space right now and make it ours together. It put us on more equal footing than Steph moving into a space that Bucky and I had already made "ours". Hopefully it would keep Steph from worrying about stepping on toes.

Even more exciting to me was the implications of the extra bedrooms. I had been so relieved to find that Steph was willing to have our kids. Although we wanted kids, Bucky and I would have both been willing to forgo them if Steph hadn't been on board with that. We both knew we couldn't give up our lives as Avengers anytime soon, so it was a lot of responsibility to put on Steph and wouldn't be fair to push on her reluctantly.

Before I could voice my concern about the removal of the full heat room, Steph rejoined us. She crowded into my side that Bucky wasn't occupying and presented to me with a great flourish a paper. On it were words written similarly in style to a contract that were designed to unequivocally demonstrate her commitment to our union and her consent to be assisted through heats by both Bucky and I. It also expressed her desire to have children on whatever timescale we were willing and able.

In truth the words on the paper were probably shockingly old fashioned to most people, but to me it was a comfort. It was a bit of ceremony that, although often completely scoffed at these days, was commonplace in those in which Bucky and I had come of age. They had been signed with Natasha as a witness. I had no doubt that Steph had explained our hesitation about making sure we had full consent, and Natasha had suggested this.

Wordlessly I handed the stack of papers over to Bucky before turning to Steph and pulling her into me for a deep kiss. I could sense Bucky's growing frustration at not being allowed access to Steph, so I eventually managed to reel myself in and allowed Bucky to step into my place. Drawing back, I flushed when I saw the look on everyone else's faces. When Bucky started behaving similarly, I stepped in front of the two to give them a modicum of privacy.

"Alright, what floor is ours now?" I asked Pepper.

"What? you don't want to play more tonsil hockey first?" Tony asked.

"I'm willing to bet there will be plenty of time for that later," Steph replied smartly while running a hand along my back while giving a soft hum that let me know she was content and not at all bothered by the attention. It took longer than I really wanted for Pepper to show us through the apartment and the team to fuss and tease before finally leaving us along in our new space.

As soon as the door was shut, I turned to Bucky and Steph. Bucky was wearing a wicked grin that I was fairly certain matched my own and Steph had a gorgeous blush on her face that told me she knew exactly what I was thinking. Slowly I stalked toward her. She stood her ground, not backing down, but with her focus on me, she was taken by surprise when Bucky grabbed her from behind and lifted her up.

Despite her surprise, she didn't hesitate to wrap her legs around me with a squeal of delight when I pressed up into her taking her from Bucky's grasp. Bucky shifted his hands to be around me, hugging in to sandwich Steph between our bodies.

"What do you think of the new place?" I asked nuzzling into Steph's neck.

"It's great," Steph said.

"Smells wrong," Bucky said.

"Too sterile," Steph agreed.

"Guess we'll have to see what we can do to add our scent to every room as quickly as possible," I growled putting Bucky and Steph both on notice for how I hoped to spend the rest of the day… as well as the next several.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Bucky's POV**_

When the world had finally caught on to my identity, there had been a great uproar. Although some at first tried to paint me as the villain I still worried on more days than not that I actually was, something unexpected had happened. The majority had embraced me. Part of it was just as the person with longest known stretch of time as a POW on record, and part of it was from being previously believed to be "the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country." A fact which was disproven by my existence.

Once word had gotten around that Steve and I were together back before the war, before the serum, and again now that I'd rediscovered myself, there had been an even greater uproar. Again, it was largely positive, though there were several conservatives who were eager to see Steve with an omega, procreating and making him the ideal of the American Dream. Most treated me politely enough thanks to the fear invoked by the Winter Soldier persona, and I truthfully wasn't any more grateful for that than when the interview requests were much lower than Pepper and everyone else in the Tower expected.

When people asked Steve when he'd bond an omega to create a solid triad, I truthfully didn't take offense. Steve, however, would get frustrated at the implication that I wouldn't be enough for him even if we never found a third. Any time there was renewed fervor over the issue, he went out of his way to prove that he didn't need anyone other than me if we never found that extra piece.

The day after she moved in to the tower and we all moved into the new apartment, Steve and I insisted on taking Steph out to celebrate. Through our connections with not just Pepper, but also Natasha who had her own set of fiercely loyal business proprietors, we had set up a week's worth of dates that were surprisingly successfully under the radar. True, there began to be rumblings on the airwaves- clandestine, friendly, and gossip alike- of an omega, but there were no confirmed photographs and no one we encountered was willing to confirm any sightings, so no one had any information on which to act.

A week to the day after she moved in, and found herself in the near constant presence of an unbonded alpha, Steph staggered onto the communal floor where I was eating lunch with, thankfully, Jane, Natasha and Bruce. Alarmed by her entrance, I rose immediately. That was when I caught her scent. She was going into another heat, already, and it smelled just as chemically altered as the previous one brought on by the drug Hebe.

As soon as he smelled it, Bruce's eyes widened and he called for Tony and Darcy to bring up some syringes. Knowing we didn't have too long if it acted as quickly as last time, Natasha reaffirmed Steph's consent on the matter even as I allowed her to climb into my lap and burrow in to try to soothe herself slightly with my scent. I asked JARVIS to notify Steve that Steph needed him in our apartment as soon as he was able to get free of his meetings. Tony came flying in and took Steph's blood even as he, Jane, and Bruce theorized about how and why the drug, which they had believed had been worked out of her system, might be behaving in the indicated manner.

Not waiting around while they talked and Steph became more and more distressed, I picked Steph up. Despite the distraction her fervent kisses and suggestive grinding, I managed to get us into the elevator and then our apartment, grateful to find Steve waiting. In a tone the was meant to soothe and comfort Steph, Steve quickly ran through everything that had happened since Steph appeared upstairs with me.

Steph's whines and ardent manner quickly sent Steve into a rut that matched her heat. Before too long, we were a tangle of limbs with Steve and I pressing urgent and controlled, but deep, bond bites to Steph's neck at the peak of our shared passion. From the first attempt, I knew the bond would keep. In subsequent attempts, Steph provided bites to Steve and I, and we all continually refreshed them on each other over the next week. And we really did spend almost the entire week in bed with me being responsible for providing sustenance to alpha and omega until Steve's rut wore off. Once that happened, we took turns taking care of Steph until her heat finally wore off.

The first post-heat morning dawned with a sigh of relief for all three of us when we realized that Steph's scent had returned to normal. After that initial moment of waking and self-assessment, Steph snuggled into me. I rolled so that she'd be between both of us, and Steve wrapped himself around her as well. Exhaustion pulled her back under, and she slept clear through to lunch with neither Steve nor I were willing to release our hold on her until she did.

Even with a shower, it was clear exactly what we'd been up to just from our scents even if you didn't know from any other context. Staggering into the common floor together, Steph didn't even hesitate when Sam, Natasha, Clint, and Darcy broke into applause when they caught sight of us. If anything, practically she purred from the attention.

"Have a good week?" Sam asked in a tone that let us all know he genuinely cared about our happiness, rather than gossip.

When we all made noises of agreement, Darcy casually whispered to Steph, "think it'll stick?"

With a dopey smile, Steph nodded.

"Not to interrupt the bubble you have going on, but Tony and Bruce do want to talk to all three of you now that you've come up for air," Clint said.

All three of us ate like we were starving, and when we'd had our fill, we piled into the elevator, agreeing that the others could join us if they wanted and it seemed they all did.

Cutting to the chase almost immediately upon seeing us, Bruce said, "near as we can tell, the drug had gone dormant in Steph's system because of the induced coma. It still required full heat cycle, complete with an alpha's presence to work out of her system."

Much less lewdly than one might have expected, Tony looked us over pointedly and said, "as it seems that has happened, she should be in the clear now."

Apparently neither seemed to have anything more to say on the matter, as they effectively dismissed us by going back to whatever they had been working on. We started to leave before we realized that Steph had stayed behind and smelled somewhat nervous.

Bruce looked at her, silently assessing before adding, "we're not sure of the actual mechanisms of the drug, as it remains frustratingly unlike anything we've seen before. But from what we can tell, it's actually extremely unlikely that they were successful in being able to trigger actual fertility instead of just heat symptoms. We're not going to ask you any delicate questions, but even if you didn't use protection, it would be unlikely that you'd be pregnant from the heat, even if the bond itself is sticking. If the heat _was_… successful… we have no reason to think there will be any negative consequences. Nothing would be in play other than the serums, which shouldn't cause _adverse_ effects."

At this, Steph's momentary stress seemed to melt away and allow her to go into her previously happy state. As the elevator doors closed, she settled herself into Steve's arms and none of the three of us could hide our smiles. It didn't matter if it was this time at not, we all knew that we would be doing everything possible to make sure there was a baby in our future sometime soon.

"You okay?" Steve whispered into Steph's ear.

She looked over at me with a huge smile as she said, "better than okay. I'm probably the best I've ever been; I'm so happy."

In response, Steve nuzzled into her neck and pressed a kiss into it while I stepped into her front and gave her a kiss on the lips. By unspoken agreement, we went back into our apartment and spent the rest of the day just settled into the couch and watching TV. Steph had decreed months ago that, as most people didn't have all-inclusive pop culture knowledge anyway, we should throw out our lists and just watch things as we _wanted_ to watch, rather than trying to check off specific items. I had to admit that it made the experience more enjoyable rather than stressful, which I think was her point.

It was that night that our goose was finally cooked as far as the press was concerned. Tony and Pepper decided to throw a celebration in honor of our bonding, renting out the event room of a popular restaurant and inviting the team as well as everyone at Rangeman who was available on short notice.

Because the restaurant was otherwise open to the public, and we arrived as a group, we were quickly recognized. The bites Steph had given Steve and I had already quickly faded into what would be their long-term state of a faint scar, but hers, although healing faster than normal, were still clearly visible.

No one bothered us in the restaurant, but by the time we walked outside, it was an absolute mob scene with paparazzi _everywhere_ shouting at us. Steve and I pressed into Steph even more fully and the rest of the team closed in around us with the untrained Pepper, Darcy, and Jane herded into the middle with Steph. The men from Rangeman seamlessly circled the group, combined with our small SI security escort, providing a barrier and some distance between us and the crowd. It allowed us to move without the possibility of being called out for threatening or injuring a member of the paparazzi.

"Captain America, is this your omega?"

"Winter Soldier, are you worried you've been replaced?"

"Stephanie Plum! You are Stephanie Plum, right?"

The questions being shouted were all clearly crafted with the intent of getting some kind of reaction. Without any coaching or prep, Steph managed to give them _absolutely_ _nothing_. She didn't even flinch or in any way acknowledge her name, something to that I found impressive.

We quickly ushered the civilians into the waiting oversized limo before following them. As soon as we made it inside, Steve plucked Steph up to settle her sideways in his lap with her legs draped over my own.

Once we were underway, Natasha spoke, "you handled that well, Steph."

Steph just shrugged without saying anything, simply stared back at the direction from which we'd come and hummed an acknowledgment.

"Don't think about it," Pepper started, causing Steph to turn her head and meet the redhead's gaze in curiosity. "If there was one person in all the world you could have interview you for your first TV interview, Steph, who would it be?"

"Ellen."

The word was out of Steph's mouth before she could even fully process. Even as she tried to backpedal, Pepper was already enthusiastically responding, "Done. We leave for LA in the morning. Don't bother packing bags, we've set up rooms for everyone at the Malibu mansion already."

"Seriously? You can just…" Steph trailed off and waved her hand vaguely, and Pepper preened as she nodded her head.

I started thinking about the press and the crowds of fans, and I asked, "is that necessary? Couldn't we just not acknowledge and have Steph always be there? They'll figure it out eventually. Or we could just release a statement again?" Looking over at Steph, I hastily added, "I want everyone to know we are all together now, but this is going to make her life crazy, and she can't protect herself the way we can. No one is afraid of her the way they are of us. She'll be hounded everywhere she tries to go."

"It'll be worse if you do nothing," Natasha said. "In this case, there are questions that everyone is going to want answered and you won't get away with not answering them. If you try, they'll make up their own answers, and they won't be pleasant. Especially if her mom, Morelli, or anyone from Trenton decides to weigh in. Better to do it soon and on your terms than to drag it out indefinitely. Ellen's nice and in a happy, committed beta-beta relationship. She's famous in her own right and experienced in having her personal life dragged through the mud and dealing with those who may disapprove. She'll guide you through the questions that absolutely must be answered. Let you out of the optional ones, and respect any hard lines you draw in the sand beforehand."

The matter seemed to be resolved then, and Darcy and Tony started speculating on what the next day's headlines would be.

Ranger was on the phone with his men who had left in the SUVs that were surrounding the limo, but when he hung up, he gathered the group's attention. "I didn't want to bring this up tonight, as we were celebrating. But if you're heading out of town in the morning, I think you'll want to know. Hector had some contacts inside the same prison as Vernon Gill and some of the others that were picked up after Steph's assault. It's taken his contacts some time to gain their confidence, but we're finally getting some more information."

"The source is trustworthy?" I asked.

Ranger nodded and said, "Steph was targeted because of her first interaction with Peterson. Gill confessed to a crime he didn't actually commit just so he could get himself bailed out by Mike. They knew that even if Steph didn't make the capture herself, she was usually nearby. So they had teams on the street each night waiting for us to make a move and using infrared cameras to check nearby vans when we did."

"Well, that's great!" Steph said shockingly enthusiastically.

There were several beats of silence and everyone gaped at Steph. It was Jane who finally blurted out, "I'm sorry, Steph, but in what way is that great?"

"Because now we know! And some super soldiers who shall remain nameless can stop worrying about it being their fault. As can some Merry Men and their boss. It's entirely my fault!"

"It's not your _fault_, Steph," Clint argued. "You were just doing you job."

"Well, I know. But of everyone in the limo, it is closest to being my fault. So that means everyone else can just stop feeling guilty!"

I exchanged a look with Steve, but as the limo was pulling into the Tower, the conversation had to wait a little longer. Some privacy would probably be for the best anyway. We all went our separate ways as JARVIS stopped the elevator on our floors with Pepper warning us each that JARVIS would wake us half an hour before we needed to leave for California early the next morning. As soon as we reached the apartment door, I swooped down and threw Steph gently over my shoulder. She was giggling and kicking around a little until I set her on our bed and Steve and I stood over her with our arms crossed over our chests.

"What'd I do?"

"Nothing!" Steve cried. "That's the point!"

Steph flinched a little, so I patted Steve on the shoulder and waited while he sat on the bed and pulled Steph into his lap to cuddle. Once both were comfortable, I said, "Doll, you know neither attack was your fault, right?"

"If I wasn't-"

I cut her off gently saying, "what? If you weren't an omega who insisted on having a job that she enjoys and makes her happy it wouldn't have happened? Maybe not, Doll, but that'd be a boring life. And a sad one. Not to mention it's a perfectly valid job- one that is vital to the community. I imagine you go after loads of people who aren't really bad people, they just made poor decisions." When Steph nodded I added, "and some of them are probably omegas who are so glad to have an omega come after them rather than an alpha."

Steph shivered a little at the thought of being in their shoes if an alpha was after them, and Steve rubbed his hands up and down her arms. Then he added, "and if you had a different job, we might not have met you, Steph."

"Thanks," Steph whispered out. "I'm not used to being in a relationship that is so supportive of who I am or even just generally around anyone outside of Rangeman who can handle it."

"Well, I guess we'll have to make sure you get used to it, and the sooner the better," I said leaning down to give her a kiss. If I could get used to people trusting rather than fearing me, she could get used to people supporting her.

Of course, one kiss caused a second and so on until we were carried away and exploring the newly even more physical side of our relationship. When I woke to JARVIS slowly increasing the lights in the bedroom, my eyes met Steve's over Steph's body burrowed in between us. In his eyes, I recognized more than a little laughter that I was sure was reflected in mine even before JARVIS spoke.

"Good morning, it is five o'clock in the morning and the temperature is currently-"

"No, no, no, no!" Steph was whimpering as she tried to bury her head under my arm and the pillow. Steve chuckled and grabbed her by the hips, gently pulling her off the bed and carrying her into the shower. "Too early!" she exclaimed before going off into a string of rather inventive curses that thankfully seemed to be directed at the "idiot who invented mornings" rather than Steve or I.

She had an adorable pout going on that I couldn't help but kiss away before Steve and I quickly cleaned ourselves up and encouraged Steph to do the same. When Pepper had warned us the night before, half an hour of warning from JARVIS had seemed excessive for us to get in the elevator for our trip. But having to coax Steph into getting ready hours before she wanted to be awake made it so we were barely in the garage on time. As we stepped into the elevator, I handed her a travel mug filled with coffee which got me the first real smile of the day.

A few cars were lined up waiting caravan style, and Steph just walked up to one of the sedans, opened the back, shoved Steve in, crawled into the middle, and waited for me to get in. Once the door was shut behind us, she downed the rest of her coffee, put on her seat belt, and then twisted around so she was laying on my chest with her legs across Steve.

It wasn't time to leave quite yet, but Steve and I just stayed quiet and watched as the others put themselves into various vehicles. Once we started moving, I tried to get Steph to sit up, knowing that people would be able to see into the back from the windshield of our particular car once we left the garage.

"Hey, Doll," I tried, stroking her hair.

"Shhh, pillows don't talk."

"But Steph," I tried again.

She let out a long suffering groan and said, "Oh my god, Bucky. It is still dark out!" She continued to grumble as she sat up, shifted herself around, and face planted into Steve's chest instead. "Thank goodness there are two of you," she mumbled before drifting off again.

I knew I looked nonplussed, especially when Steve chuckled at my expense.

"They're going to get pictures," I said to him in exasperation. When he just shrugged and pointed out that was why we were making this trip anyway, I sighed and picked Steph's feet up, pulling them onto my lap. I idly ran my hand over her lower leg, while Steve slid his arm across the back of the seat and gently massaged some of the stress out of my neck and shoulders. By the time our caravan finally pulled outside, Steph was sound asleep, but Steve and I were on alert. He left his hand where it was, but both of us had our heads on constant swivel, and Steve had his outside hand on the shield at his feet just in case.

Thankfully there wasn't much more than a few camera flashes on our way out of the building. When we made it to the airstrip, Steve just passed his shield out of the car to me and then carried Steph into the plane. I had yet to ride in Stark's private jet, but I managed to keep my face blank instead of gawking as we stepped inside. We settled comfortably onto a couch, got Steph buckled in, and kicked our feet back to relax. Shutting my eyes I figured that even if I didn't need the sleep, it couldn't hurt to bank it for sometime in the future when I might run short on shut eye. Plus, there was nothing to do until we landed in California anyway.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **Obviously, I don't own Ellen because she's totally awesome and a real person; I also do not own her show.

**Chapter 16**

_**Steph's POV**_

I woke up with a start thinking, "where the fuck am I?"

Apparently, I also woke up _saying_ that because after a few laughs, Tony said, "welcome to flying in style with Stark Industries. Much more comfortable than flying commercial, wouldn't you say?"

I sat up slowly trying, discreetly, to check and make sure I hadn't been drooling on Steve. That would be embarrassing. More laughter greeted me and I sighed, "does this fancy plane come with coffee?"

"Well, I mean, it didn't come _with_ coffee, but we stock it full of the stuff," Stark said with a shit-eating grin.

"Ass," I muttered. Steve and Bucky choked back laughs, but I managed to keep that one quiet enough that no one else heard. Looking over, I saw laughter in Thor's eyes as well and figured I'd need to add him to the Super Hearing list.

Despite the joking around, I noticed that Steve seemed kind of tense. Taking the mug of coffee the flight attendant handed me with a smile of gratitude, I tilted my head and asked Steve, "you okay?"

"Not a fan of flying."

I was about to ask why, then I remembered the whole plane crash into ice water and being frozen for seventy years thing, so I gave him a hug and cuddled into him instead. Bucky squeezed my knee in a way that let me know it was the right way to handle this.

"How much longer?" I asked when I realized that my ears were popping.

"We should be on the ground in 15 or so minutes," Sam said. "You did a good job of sleeping through the flight.

"Well, it was still the middle of the night when we left the Tower."

"It was 5:30 in the morning," Clint pointed out.

"Exactly. Middle of the night; you all are just crazy if you think otherwise." Darcy raised a fist in solidarity, and I returned the gesture before looking at Tony and saying, "really, I thought you'd be on my side."

He just shrugged and said, "I don't sleep much, and when I do, it's on an unpredictable schedule. Anytime can be daytime for me."

Clint let out a cough that sounded enough like "PTSD" for me to get the point. Deciding to steer the conversation away from yet another fragile topic, I said, "well, I'm awake now. What's the plan for the day?"

"Girl time!" Darcy said excitedly.

"Sounds like fun," I said. When I started looking around trying to decide if there was a bathroom on board, Natasha pointed, and I got up to take advantage of using the facilities before we had to land. After I settled back into my seat, and Steve and Bucky had taken their turns, I asked what they were going to do for the day. They started describing the workout and training exercises they had planned and I couldn't help but feel like I had gotten the good end of the deal.

"Oh, and Steph, there is one thing. I'm really hoping is okay because she's doing us such a big favor," Pepper said cautiously. "Ellen wants to just interview you, Steph, rather than the three of you."

I was pretty sure I gulped audibly before saying, "what? why in the world would she want that? I figured I'd just get to sit there looking pretty while these two did all the talking."

Bucky snorted and I looked at him in surprise. "You're the normal one and you've suddenly found yourself in a relationship with two men from World War II and living with the rest of the Avengers. You're totally the interesting story, plus it'll look good that we 'let' you go out and do this thing on your own. Also, I've been known to, how should I say this, not be the most friendly or willing interview subject."

Steve laughed shortly at that, and I figured there was a story I'd have to ask for another time behind it. "I really don't know…"

"Come on, Steph! It'll be fun! We're going to do the whole pampering thing and we'll make sure you're fully prepped while we do. For anything she might say, ask, or do," Darcy said. "You've gotta do it for all us regulars out there who love Ellen and dream of being on the show."

I hung my head but reluctantly nodded. After all, if that was what Ellen wanted, who was I to say no after she'd gone out of her way to fit us, or rather me, into her schedule.

Just a couple minutes later we had landed and were on our way to Tony's Malibu mansion in what was possibly the largest limo I'd ever seen. Much as they'd promised, Darcy, Pepper, Natasha, and I spent the day getting scrubbed, buffed, waxed, and polished, not necessarily in that order. Then a woman came in pushing racks of expensive outfits and I tried on a several, carefully ignoring the price tags.

After a heated debate about whether or not I could wear white after labor day, I ended up in a deceptively simple cut out dress with thick straps over the shoulders. It was white with navy trimming, and the back was mostly cut out with enough left across the middle for me to be able to wear a bra- something about which I'd been adamant.

With a pair of nude pumps with heels on, I was still shorter than both my guys when they walked back into the room we were using during our stay. Everyone else filtered out to give us a few minutes of privacy, and Natasha told them hair and makeup would be redone when we arrived anyway, so they didn't have to worry about mussing anything other than my clothes.

"You look stunning, Doll," Bucky said as they approached, but it was Steve who pulled me in for a kiss first. After a few minutes, he passed me off to Bucky. By the time Bucky and I were done kissing, our private time was up and Natasha was calling for us to come out so that we could leave for the studio.

The next limo ride seemed much too short considering that I was nervous as hell and not particularly eager to get there. But it felt like I'd barely blinked and there we were, in a dressing room waiting while the hair and makeup people flitted around me again. When the makeup artist, Erin, moved to put makeup over my bite marks, I covered them with my hands and pouted.

"Isn't that the whole reason we're here anyway?" Steve asked nonchalantly from where he had been watching the process. Truthfully, he looked calmer than Bucky who practically twitched every time someone new approached me.

One of the show's producers was in the room reviewing possible interview topics one more time, and she just nodded her head in agreement. Just like that the matter was resolved. My hair had been pulled back into a loose braid, with my curls just barely contained, so the marks were prominently on display. Something about them just made me feel more confident though, and I didn't want to cover them up at all. I was proud of them and wanted to show them to the world as proof of our bond.

What felt like moments later I was standing just off stage trying to calm my breathing in preparation for walking out. Steve was wrapped comfortingly around me from behind and Bucky was pressed up against my front whispering in my ear. "You're going to be great, Doll. I know it; it's impossible for anyone not to love you. Just try to relax and enjoy it, okay? We'll be back here, and they've promised to edit out any goofs over the weekend that we ask them to. It's not airing until Monday, so there's plenty of time. That means you take your time, they'll refilm if they need to, and it won't be a big deal."

I nodded along as he spoke, when I heard Ellen come back from her post start of show commercial break and start my introduction.

"Alright, today on the show, we have someone I personally can't wait to meet. She's been causing quite the uproar over the past few days, or weeks really if you count when we first found out about her. That's right, she's the omega who has taken the world's most eligible alpha and beta pair off the market- Stephanie Plum!"

Steve and Bucky had pressed a kiss to each of their marks and then shoved me forward gently a couple lines into the music that had started playing.

"_You take me over you're the magic in my veins_

_This must be love_

_Boom! Clap!_

_The sound of my heart_

_The beat goes on and on and on and on and_

_Boom! Clap!_

_You make me feel good_

_Come on to me, come on to me now_

_Boom! Clap!_

_The sound of my heart_

_The beat goes on and on and on and on and_

_Boom! Clap!_

_You make me feel good_

_Come on to me, come on to me now"_

In some ways, I think I'd been the _most_ nervous about walking out onto the stage because I wasn't a celebrity. During the lead up to the show, I'd been picturing walking out to a crowd that was sitting there silently thinking, "who the hell is this chick?" but in reality they were going nuts. And it did wonders for my ego and frazzled nerves. By the time I'd reached Ellen, who had come out to meet me halfway instead of staying back, I had loosened up enough to dance with her a little on our way over to the chairs.

I kind of collapsed onto my chair with a happy sigh, proud of myself for remembering to cross my legs in the process. I looked over at Ellen with a smile and when the crowd finally stopped cheering, she leaned forward and put her hand on my arm playfully and said, "wow. So, life's a whirlwind for you right now, isn't it?"

I straightened back up and said, "yes, just a smidge," with a laugh.

"So for our viewers at home, I'll just point out that this is going to air on Monday, but we're filming it today, on Thursday. And you were in Manhattan last night, celebrating with your friends when all this news broke, and now you're here with us giving us the scoop."

"Yes, well, we hadn't exactly been hiding our relationship, but we'd been trying to, you know, keep it at least somewhat private for the past few weeks."

"You wanted to feel out the relationship and get to know each other first without the world watching," Ellen said, "that's fair. No reason to set the world in a tizzy if the relationship isn't going to pan out."

I nodded and said, "Obviously we got found out, and when Pepper asked me who I wanted to talk to if I could have any person in the world interview me, I said you, Ellen. And apparently, your team and our team were able to make that happen."

The crowd was cheering at that, and Ellen laughed and said, "well, I'm flattered you would think of me. And I have to admit, when the Avengers call and ask you for a favor, you pretty much just say yes. I mean, don't want to be at the bottom of their 'To Save' list the next time the world is ending."

I reached up to play with my hair nervously, but schooled myself partway through and put my hands back in my lap. "Honestly, I think if there's world ending going on they just save as many people as they can, list or no list."

That got a huge round of applause.

"And when you said 'Pepper' you mean 'Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries.' That's quite the smooth name drop there," she teased.

"Oh, sorry, yes. Well, to me she's just 'Pepper Potts, Really Nice Woman Who Welcomed Me Into the Fold No Questions Asked,' but yeah, that's her. She's awesome by the way."

"Yes, I've gotten to meet her a few times, she's a wonderful woman," Ellen agreed. "So walk me through this a little bit if you can. It's what three or four weeks ago?"

"Something like that. At least four, I think." I said, looking nervously backstage because I didn't want to be wrong, "I've lost track of time a little bit."

"We'll call it four weeks, give or take. And you're at work, and what happens?"

"Oh, well, I'm a bounty hunter, so I was tracking down someone who had been arrested and released on bail but didn't appear in court. I found him attacking a woman, tried to stop him, and was overpowered by him. Steve and Bucky came along when they heard me screaming and subdued my skip for me."

"Skip?"

"That's what we call them because they skipped bail. That or FTA which stands for Failed to Appear"

The audience gasped and Ellen tapped me casually and gestured to the screen behind me where I saw the picture of me walking set apart from Bucky and Steve clutching my side that was bleeding profusely. That explained the gasps.

"Oh, yeah, well, he had a knife," I explained. "He got me a little bit."

"Just a little bit? I mean, how many stitches did you need?"

"A lot," I said with a laugh, turning myself to the side, and gesturing the entire length of where the wound had been. "I don't know the exact count, but dozens of them. And some on my arm too."

The camera had zoomed in on the bit of scar showing through my dress and then onto my opposite arm when I straightened back out.

"You say it so casually, like 'no big deal, I just had dozens of stitches'. Which I would be willing to bet, by the way, was closer to a hundred."

"Well, I don't think I ever got a straight answer when I asked how many there were, but a hundred is somewhere around eight dozen right?" I said with a laugh.

"That has to hurt, right?"

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"No, I absolutely do believe it," Ellen joked back. "Did you at least get some good drugs while they were stitching you up?"

"No," I said, and the audience gasped. "No, no, no, don't worry, I actually passed out before then, the stitches were in when I woke up. _Then_ I got the good drugs."

"Well, so there you go. Any of you out there who are wondering why you didn't get Captain America and the Winter Soldier to fall in love with you, you just went about it the wrong way."

"Yeah, you had to get beat up and pass out from pain and blood loss in their lobby," I said with a laugh, grabbing the mug in front of me and taking a sip without looking. I covered my mouth in surprise and looked back into the mug. "Well, that's not water."

Ellen was waving a bottle of golden liquor as she said, "no, we heard you were nervous, so it's tea with a little Irish in it."

"I like your style," I chuckled out.

"Speaking of style, we obviously got a good look at your scar because your dress was cut out. It's a very nice dress, who are you wearing?"

"Michael Kors," I said smoothly. "And the shoes are Louboutin. Did I mention Pepper is awesome? I think I'm in heaven."

"You're going to need to meet Portia sometime, I have a feeling you'll get along splendidly."

"Works for me," I replied gamely.

"So, you got hurt on the job, Captain America and the Winter Soldier helped you out-"

"Steve and Bucky did, yes," I corrected smoothly.

Ellen smiled and nodded at the correction before continuing, "and then you started dating."

"Basically, yes."

"And we haven't seen too much of any of the Avengers on TV lately, so they've been around and you've gotten to know each other pretty well?"

"Well, yes, I wouldn't have bonded with them if I didn't think I knew them well enough to be sure we'd last. I'm sure there's plenty to learn still, but…"

I trailed off and Ellen continued, "you feel like you know them pretty well."

"Yeah."

"Everything they're going to do?"

Before I could respond, I felt two sets of hands smack down on the chair on either side of me and heard Bucky and Steve yelling in unison, "Steph!" It scared the crap out of me, and I let out a little scream before covering my mouth and doubling over, falling to the floor in a fit of giggles. I could hear Ellen laughing hysterically to the side of me even as I felt Bucky move around and grab my hips to help pull me up. I was shaking my head as he pulled me into a hug and a quick kiss.

Steve had walked away laughing and as he walked back Ellen was calling, "it was his idea!" Still I threw myself into his arms for a hug and another quick peck all the while calling him a sneak.

"Let's see that again," Ellen crowed gleefully, and I left my head buried in Steve's chest as we turned and watched the replay. I poked Steve in the stomach because he just looked too pleased with himself even as Ellen behind me sent us to a commercial break. The crowd was still on their feet screaming and cheering as both men waved at them.

I knew the commercial break must have lasted a few minutes, but so much was happening at once that it felt like no time at all passed. A crew was taking away the chair I had been sitting in and replacing it with a small couch. Someone, who hadn't been the one who had done my make up earlier, ran out to touch up what I had on. I checked to make sure I hadn't gotten any lipstick on either Steve or Bucky, and then we were back.

We were all still standing and laughing as Ellen tried to bring the audience under control after they showed the replay of the guys scaring me again. Steve helped me to be seated and then waited for Ellen before he and Bucky took their seats.

"Before the break we were talking about how you all met through Steph's job as kind of a right place right time thing." Steve and Bucky nodded, and Ellen looked almost apologetic as she continued. "So she's an omega who spends her time in the streets picking up dangerous criminals, which I think is awesome, but the way. I would imagine it throws a lot of people off though; does it bother either of you?"

"Nope!" Bucky said shortly.

"Honestly, I think it's great," Steve elaborated. "It is such an important job, something that I think most police stations would be overwhelmed trying to handle. But, obviously, we need to get these people off the streets. We were just talking the other day about how she primarily goes after omegas and some betas, and they aren't all bad people. Some of them made a poor choice, or felt they didn't have any options. Those people, especially the omegas, probably feel better having an omega come after them than they do having an alpha do so. And from what we've seen of it so far, Steph's good at her job. She's trained to make sure she can take care of herself out there. It's a job she likes doing, so _obviously_ we support her."

"And I actually used to work most of the time solo but part time as a consultant for a security company, Rangeman. I've actually just signed on to work with them full time as a bounty hunter, so when I get back I'll have a partner with me at all times. So it'll be safer, and I think they both like that," I added.

Steve and Bucky nodded happily at that as well.

"It does help to know that. The other thing you have to think of is just the type of stuff Bucky and I do. What we've seen. Obviously we're not going to find someone with those _same_ experiences," Steve said. "But someone like Steph has seen a lot too. She's seen a lot of the grittier side of life, so she can understand a good portion of what we have gone through and what we will go through as Avengers. And more importantly, she sees through all the hype to just us- two kids who grew up together in Brooklyn getting in fights in alleys with bullies."

The audience made plenty of "awwww" sounds at that, and Ellen played along with them before straightening up a bit again and asking, "So you've got some self defense training on your own, Steph, but these guys and their team are experts. Do they offer you any tips?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure any of them could take me down in a fight in about two seconds flat, if it even took that long." I paused for the laughter in the audience as I said, "there hasn't been a ton of time for that yet, but I've had several offers. Bucky and I are still in negotiations for him in particular to train me. Apparently he likes to teach, but that's still an intimidating idea for me. And Natasha has offered as well."

"Right because training with the Black Widow _isn't_ scary," Ellen joked.

"At least she's more me-sized!"

"True enough, but still I would think that given what you do, you'd jump at the chance to learn from the best."

"Shh, I gotta make them sweat over it a little longer," I pretended to whisper. "See if I can get anything good out of it before I agree."

That brought out some cheers in the audience and my guys just shook their heads in defeat.

"You know," Steve said thoughtfully, "Bucky's actually the one who taught me how to fight."

"Well, that's a heck of an endorsement, Steph. You should think about that," Ellen said. Then she added, "You know, if you're trying to bribe her, she really likes those shoes. And I think they're only around $1,000 a pair," Ellen offered.

Steve's eyes bugged out a little, and Bucky was eyeing the shoes warily. I couldn't help but giggle as I said, "I think you broke them, Ellen. Remember, they grew up 70 plus years of inflation ago. I have it on good authority that they still get sticker shock regularly."

Both men shifted uncomfortably, but I gave their hands a squeeze where they were resting on my knees. The issue of their past was one that we had designated as a "tread lightly" category for the show, so I wasn't all surprised when Ellen breezed over it saying, "well, to be fair, I think most people think twice about a thousand dollar pair of shoes."

"I thought more than twice about it myself, but I didn't have any clothes out here with me, and that was all I had to choose from today. When in Rome, right?"

"Okay, so I thought we'd play a little game called The Newly Mated Game. If you can join me over here, Steph, you'll sit on this side of the wall and Steve and Bucky you'll sit over here on these two stools."

"Why do they get to be a team?"

"Because they've known each other and been together for so long! Alright, now I'm going to ask a series of questions. Steph will write down her answer and then Steve and Bucky will guess. Okay?"

I peeked over to the other side of the wall to smile at Bucky and Steve who both looked like they were in operation planning mode or something.

"You two are taking this way too seriously, relax! Ellen, give them the mug!"

Ellen walked over to the table next to where my mug was and as she walked back to hand it to Steve and Bucky, she asked the first question, "okay, we're starting with a softball. What's Steph's favorite color?"

I wrote "blue" quickly and was satisfied when they both responded correctly.

"Alright, another layer down now. What's Steph's favorite movie?"

"Ghostbusters!"

"Who is the best cook?"

"Steve!"

"If Steph could be any famous person, dead or alive, fictional or real, who would she be?"

I wrote "Wonder Woman" and Steve and Bucky spent a decent amount of time conferring before they decided on "Dirty Harry".

I leaned over so I could see them with a laugh, and said, "what?"

They shrugged and said, "you have the same type of gun."

"Is that true?" Ellen asked.

"Well, yes, actually, a smaller version, but yes."

Ellen laughed before the guys called over, "why Wonder Woman?"

I shrugged, "I've always wanted to fly! When I was growing up, I convinced myself I could fly and jumped off the neighbor's garage. It didn't work."

That was met with laughter, and Ellen followed it with, "what is Steph's worst habit?"

"Oooooh, you're playing hardball now!" I said to Ellen with a shake of my finger. "I have two ideas and I'm not sure which it is."

I thought about it for a minute before writing down, "needing to be hospitalized."

The guys called out, "getting hurt."

Ellen looked between us and said, "obviously you needed like a hundred stitches, but that was one time. How much more could you have gotten hurt in four weeks?"

I snorted out a laugh and said, "honestly, that wasn't the worst!"

Bucky cut in smoothly from the other side, "but we're not at liberty to discuss the other incident at the moment."

"Suffice to say she's technically on mandatory leave for getting injured at work right now," Steve added.

"Alright, well, she doesn't look very injured to me, but next question. Who among you is the best at remembering things?" Ellen asked next.

I laughed and wrote, "not me."

The guys were laughing too as they said, "we are."

"I feel like I missed the joke here," Ellen said.

"That's basically like asking who is fastest or strongest," I argued.

"Bucky and I have enhanced, eidetic memories," Steve informed her

"Oh, well then, I guess that was a silly question," Ellen said. "Alright, second to last question. So, you're bonded now. Babies or no babies in the future?"

I wrote down my answer and waited until the guys called out, "uh, I think we're going to decline to comment on that," Steve said nervously.

"Well, let's see what Steph has to say on the matter," Ellen said. Both guys were looking around the divider as I held up my board to show a big "NO COMMENT" written on it. They relaxed barely noticeably, but I was impressed that I managed to pick up on it.

"Okay, final question," Ellen said. "What is Steph's favorite holiday?"

I knew the guys had no clue, so I wrote out my answer and drew a little picture to go with it while I waited. When I finished my quick sketches, I looked up at Ellen and nodded.

"Alright, we have no clue," Bucky said.

"But, based on her love of Ghostbusters, desire to be Wonder Woman, and the fact that she was laughing more than anything when we scared her, we're going to go with Halloween?"

Excitedly bouncing in my seat, I held up my sign, and Ellen laughed. Steve and Bucky walked over, both tilting their heads to the side adorably in unison.

Sighing, I said, "it's a ghost, a pumpkin, and a bat."

"Better leave the art to Steve," Bucky said.

"Bucky's actually pretty good a well," Steve added. "We took art classes together before the War."

"So, in answer to your unasked question of who is better at art, Ellen, I say, 'not me' again!"

"If you've seen me do pictionary, you'll believe me when I say that it's not that bad, Steph!" Ellen laughed back.

We walked back over to the couches, and Ellen congratulated us on our performance in the game. Then she transitioned into asking the guys some questions about Avengers business finally I was able to relax and just listen, inserting in a quick comment or joke in the occasional gap, but otherwise I was able to just take in the experience.

When we walked off stage, Darcy pulled me into a hug saying, "you were fantastic! And you looked HOT!"

Steve growled a little and I looked at him in surprise, "are you kidding me?! That was a statement of fact, not Darcy hitting on me. Not to mention I JUST got finished telling the whole world I'm yours!"

Bucky looped his arm around my waist laughing as he said, "come on, Doll. Let's get out of here before that very fact sidetracks Steve too much and we make a public spectacle of ourselves why don't we?"

Steve followed behind grumbling, "I can control myself."

Neither Bucky nor I commented, and the grumbling continued as we wandered back into the dressing room. The rest of the team was waiting there all smiles. Pepper came up and gave me a hug telling me almost verbatim exactly what Darcy had said. Everyone else offered their opinions on the best part, and Clint couldn't stop laughing at the noise I'd made when the guys had scared me.

Ellen walked into the room probably 15 minutes after we'd gotten back to it, and happily introduced herself around to everyone. As we were flying on a private jet and didn't have to be as strict about our flight times, we gladly accepted the offer of dinner at Ellen and Portia's house. Of course, that meant we weren't leaving until late that night, so I spent another luxury flight passed out on my new mates as we made our way home.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** Meant to get this posted yesterday! You should still be getting one tomorrow and Thursday or Friday. :)

**Chapter 17**

_**Steve's POV**_

The morning after we got back from LA, Bucky and I started out with a run. We'd slept with Steph on the plane for about four hours of the flight, and that was enough for both of us. After our run, we stopped by the gym and both put in a full workout complete with sparring.

"Want to see if we can get Steph to start some training today?" I asked Bucky as we took the elevator back to our floor.

"No way in hell she'll agree to that, Steve."

"Oh, I don't know about that," I argued figuring I could at least try.

As we walked into the bedroom, Bucky stepped to the side and leaned against the wall. I strode forward to where Steph was inelegantly passed out, sprawled across the bed on her stomach with her arms and her legs stretched out and her hair everywhere. It made my heart ache a little with how perfect she looked to me. Reaching down, I stroked a finger along her cheek.

"Steph," I whispered. A hand came up and swatted at my finger, which I easily dodged. I tried again, "Steph."

Steph groaned, turned her face in the opposite direction, and pulled the pillow over her head. Behind me I heard Bucky chuckling. From under the pillow I heard a grumpy, "I just went to bed!"

"That was three hours ago, Steph!"

"Ugh, my point exactly! What could you possibly want?"

I stroked my finger along her arm and she reached back and batted at it. Catching her hand, I gently pulled her toward me, chuckling when the tried desperately to keep the blanket and pillow with her using her free hand. "Plus, an hour in the limo to the airport and five hours on the plane. That's nine hours total, that's plenty. Come on, let's go for a run and a workout. You'll feel better."

"Bucky, save me!"

Bucky spoke for the first time, "this is between you and Steve, Doll. For what it's worth, I do think you'll feel better this week if you don't oversleep this morning."

"What if I just get up?"

"Come on, just a little workout. It'll give you energy for the rest of the day." I argued.

"See, you fitness people say that, and it's total crap."

"No, it's not, Steph," Bucky commented. "But you gotta get into shape first for it to really work well."

"Are you going to leave me alone if I don't agree?"

I paused and thought about how we'd promised it was her choice whether or not to train with us. With a sigh, I said, "yes."

Steph didn't move so, I brushed a kiss on her forehead and moved back out of the bedroom toward the kitchen with Bucky following. I started going through the refrigerator trying to decide what to put on for breakfast when I heard a shuffling noise behind me.

Without preamble, Steph grumbled, "I don't care if it isn't healthy, I'm not doing this without coffee."

Thankfully it seemed that JARVIS had kept to our agreement and the coffee was already flowing into the coffee pot. I didn't say anything as she stood there, mesmerized by it, waiting for the her first cup. She did a little hip shake in celebration when it was done, and I couldn't help but smooth a hand along her hip... and let it wander to her bottom.

With a wiggle of her eyebrows over her shoulder she said, "oh, is that the kind of workout you wanted me to get? I wouldn't have put up nearly as much of a fuss over that!"

I gave her a light smack and kiss and said, "nice try, but I am glad you got up and are going to do this."

"Try, I'm going to try it out. I make no promises about this being a long term thing."

As she turned toward me on her way to leave the kitchen, coffee cup in hand, I got my first glimpse of the shirt she was wearing. I was grateful that I wasn't drinking any coffee myself, as I would have spit it all over the place. It was a plain grey workout tank top except the entire front was covered in the words, "I hope your day is as nice as my butt."

She caught me looking and offered a wink saying, "since I'm not running, I assume we're staying inside. Seemed like a good day for this one. I've got a few more that are more appropriate for being seen in public with Captain America. Not to mention, as nice as my ass is, I really don't want to invite the general public to go comparing it to yours- I'd lose that contest in a hot second."

I knew my face had gone bright red by the end of the last sentence, and my mouth was opening and closing because I REALLY didn't know how to respond to that. Bucky had clearly heard the comment because he let out a bark of laughter when he saw my face. He pulled Steph into one of his sides and me into the other. Then he slid his hands down to give us each a squeeze and said, "can't compare apples and oranges. They're both great for different reasons."

Shaking my head, I handed him an extra high calorie nutrition bar that I'd grabbed for him, forcing him to release me as we all walked together to the elevator. Once he'd done so, he reached into the side pocket of his cargoes and pulled out an apple that he handed off to Steph who bit into it wordlessly. When the elevator stopped and opened up to the training floor, Steph took half a step back. I tried to view it from fresh eyes and realized that for someone who didn't make a habit of using gym facilities, it was probably an intimidating place.

"Don't worry, Steph. You'll probably never use 75% of this, and that's fine," I said.

Bucky guided her into the sparring ring, and said, "Now, we're just going to go through some basic motions. No actual contact until we're sure it's okay." His gaze wandered toward Steph's abdomen, and I felt hope and desire fill my heart.

"Bruce said probably not," Steph said softly with her eyes on the floor and her scent shifting to one of mild distress, making me think she was worried about disappointing us.

"Steph," I said, making sure she was listening to me. "We won't be angry with you if that's what happens. I suppose a little more time to ourselves just the three of us first wouldn't be the worst thing anyway. But until we know one way or the other, it's better safe than sorry, right?"

"Okay," Steph responded, looking more than a little relieved.

Natasha was in the gym as well, and clearly understood the conversation because she moved into the ring and said, "here, I can help demo."

"So, what am I learning? Karate?" Steph asked eagerly.

Natasha scoffed, "Karate? The Dane Cook of martial arts? No."

"We'll be teaching you Krav Maga," Bucky stated, and I winced a little at his harsher no-nonsense tone it seemed his trainer persona took on. Thankfully, it didn't seem to throw Steph off any, she just nodded, and fixed her own face into the epitome of concentration.

From the sidelines I explained, "it's a little bit of everything, and is known for being brutally efficient. Street fighting- perfect for someone who lives her professional life on the street where you can bet your sweet ass the people you're after won't be playing by any rules of fair conduct."

Steph turned to look over her shoulder at me, and changed expression just long enough to give me a smile that knocked the breath out of me. What she said was, "and is it what you use, Mr. All-American Boy Scout?"

I let out a surprised laugh and said, "that and several other things. If there was one thing working for SHIELD was good for, it was combat training. And I learned anything and everything I could."

"He means he did nothing but train for the first two years after he woke up. Really until we found out your teacher, who is being unusually patient right now by the way, was alive," Natasha added with a smirk.

"Hey! How many times do I have to say it? I was in mourning!"

No one said anything about that, but Bucky gave me a dark look that said I was an idiot for not living my life when I'd been lucky enough to survive what I had. It was an argument we'd had multiple times, and while I knew he wasn't exactly wrong, thinking about losing a soulmate objectively and actually living the situation were two very different things.

As I watched the training session, I remained a silent observer for the most part, but I occasionally offered a few suggestions for how something might be modified for Steph's use. Really I was caught up observing the beta and omega interact. It took my breath away to see how much happier and more relaxed Bucky was with Steph present. In the months since I'd brought him back home with me, we'd repaired our relationship as Bucky healed. But part of our ability to do so had been dependent on understanding that Bucky was a changed man. He wasn't the same carefree beta he'd been before the war. He'd needed me to understand that fact to feel comfortable being with me, and it had taken months for him to understand that I loved him anyway. Watching Bucky with Steph, however, I realized that the "old" Bucky was still in there, and maybe not locked away as tightly as we'd previously thought.

About thirty minutes into the session, I felt Darcy settle in next to me.

"Heya, Cap. Didn't know you were a watcher," she teased.

For once, it didn't even cross my mind to flush as I responded, "honestly, I could watch the two of them do just about anything under the sun all day every day and be happy doing it."

Darcy let out a little hum while she observed the training session for a bit. "I thought Steph had some combat training, so I'm sure she can handle some sparring. Why are they kid-gloving her?"

"Bucky wants to make sure it's safe before they move on to that."

"But Bruce cleared her. The only reason she isn't at work is because contractually she can't be since the incident happened on the job for Ranger. You know that."

I cut my eyes to her and this time felt myself flush a little as I replied bluntly, "he wants to be sure she's not pregnant."

"Oh," Darcy looked surprised, then thoughtfully added, "but she obviously isn't. She doesn't _smell_ pregnant, and her scent would have shifted by now, right? Plus, didn't Bruce say it was unlikely with the drug?"

I blinked because somehow the idea of a baby had cause me to completely overlook the logic and reality of what Darcy was saying. This is something I knew was true. So thinking, I nodded my head and said, "we'll let Bruce confirm anyway before contact. It wouldn't be the first odd thing that happened as a result of this drug anyway if she was pregnant and didn't smell it for some reason."

"That's so very true," Darcy said. "I'll see if he can set aside some time for her today."

"That would be great, Darce. Thanks. I have somewhere I want to take them today, so just let me know what time she needs to be here, and I'll work around it."

"Where are you taking them?"

"It's a surprise."

"For them, not me!"

I chuckled but held strong, so after a little more pleading, Darcy wandered off. When she came back 10 minutes later, she said, "any chance I can borrow Steph now? Bruce has some time free."

"That'll be up to her," I said, preparing to step forward. Darcy stopped me with a hand on my arm.

"Doesn't that get me an in on the secret?"

"Hmmm," I pretended to think about it. "Nope. But I promise we will find you first when we get back. How's that?"

"Okay…" Darcy said, clearly unsure of why that was important, but willing to trust me anyway.

Before she could walk over to the ring, I blurted out, "can I ask you one more favor?"

"What'll it be, Steve?" She asked patiently.

"If you remember when you two go for a run sometime- if you do go for a run together- try to get her to race you home or something?"

Darcy's gaze focused on me intently as she said slowly, "will you tell me why I'm doing that?"

"In the video from the night of the attack there are moments when she's being chased, like when she's racing to dodge in front of that car crossing the street, where she's faster than we think she _should _be." I rubbed my neck and continued, "but we didn't see it when we tested her after the transfusion. We tried when we were doing some light testing before LA, but we still haven't been able to recreate it. I'm just trying to think of ways we might get her to do it without knowing it thinking. No pressure, you know?"

"I gotcha Cap. I'll try to convince her to go for a run with me tomorrow morning and I'll see if we can find a fifth gear for her." So saying, Darcy walked over to the group, interrupted, and hustled Steph into the locker room, waving the rest of us off.

Forty five minutes later, Bucky and I were in the kitchen, finishing up cooking a hearty brunch when Steph came walking back in. We looked up as one and Steph gave us a wry smile. "Well, looks like we're good to go with sparring tomorrow, Bucky," she said. When she sniffled, I just turned and opened my arms. As she snuggled into me, I heard Bucky put the last few items on plates and turn all the burners off. Then he pressed into Steph to have her hugged firmly between us. Voice sounding more than a little watery, Steph said, "I feel dumb being so upset; it's not something we ever had anyway. And we just found each other, so it would be crazy soon."

I just made soothing noises and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "It's okay, Steph. There's plenty of time, and no reason to think it won't happen. And, hey, the bond stuck, so that's what really matters right now, right?"

Bucky offered similar words of comfort, and a few moments later, we gathered the dishes and carried them into our dining area. As we were eating, Steph asked, "why are we eating in here?"

"Well, we got kind of a late start today," I explained. "So most of the others have already eaten. And I wanted to take you two somewhere, so I was hoping it would be a quick meal."

"Where are we going, Punk?" Bucky asked.

"Guess you'll see when we get there, Jerk," I shot back.

Steph watched us banter with a quirk of her lips at the nicknames we'd been calling each other since before the war. Surprisingly, neither questioned me much as I guided them to an SUV and exchanged a few words with the driver while they climbed in. Once we were settled in, and on our way, Steph, unsurprisingly fell asleep. She awoke again once we were back off the highway.

Rubbing sleep out of her eyes, she looked around, "where _are_ we?"

"Summit, New Jersey," I answered.

"You didn't like buy us some house with a white picket fence, did you?"

Bucky snorted out a laugh, and I said, "no, but a little before we met you, Bucky and I did buy a big plot of land in upstate New York that we're still trying to decide what to do with."

"How big?"

"Over 3,000 acres or about five square miles," Bucky supplied. "It's got its own small lake; it was timberland, and we thought we'd save it from possible deforestation."

Steph let out a low whistle, "that's quite a lot of land. Bet you could do some pretty fun training there. Oooooh, we should have a Rangeman vs. Avengers day!"

"Steph, they outnumber us four to one," I said.

"Okay, first of all, I think you meant to say 'you' not 'they' because I'm a full-time Rangeman now! Rangewoman? Rangeman employee… Huh… I'll have to ask Ranger how that works. And second, you're Avengers. You know you'd win, so don't even pretend otherwise. It would just be a matter of putting up a reasonable time to death."

"Steph, if you just voluntarily asked for a training exercise, I'm sure we can make it happen," Bucky said eagerly. "Though I might insist on having you on our side so I can teach you as we go."

"Ha! You're just scared that I'll be the one that tips Team Rangeman into victory!"

We were stopped from responding by the SUV pulling to a stop in front of a house. As soon as we stepped out, you could hear the sound of a dog barking accompanied by little yips. Bucky got a broad smile on his face, and Steph started grinning. Before we made it more than a few steps forward, the front door opened and a kind looking woman stepped out.

"Ms. Dennel?" I asked, stepping forward. "My name is Steve, and this is Steph and Bucky."

"Please, call me Kathleen, and I know full well who you are, Captain. Welcome, please come in. I don't know how much your Captain has told you, but I provide a foster home for a local shelter. We had a batch of puppies come up with their momma from South Carolina just this past week. I believe you are here to meet Eden, who is waiting in the kitchen. The others are outside, at least until you've had a chance to meet her unimpeded."

As we moved into the house, you could hear excited whimpering. Following behind our host, we walked forward and were greeted with the sight of a tiny puppy sitting impatiently on the other side of a baby gate. Or, at least, she was _trying_ to sit, but practically trembling with excitement. When we got within a few feet, she jumped up and started excitedly yelping and jumping against the gate. That brought out a full on laugh from each of us.

One by one we climbed over the gate and joined the puppy, sitting on the floor and letting her run between us sniffing, wagging her tail, licking, and moving on to the next person only to repeat the process over and over. After about 15 minutes of pure energy explosion, she climbed into Steph's lap, put her head on Steph's chest, wrapped her paws around Steph's neck, and fell asleep.

"Now, she's already been spayed," we were informed. "Normally, we do a background check, but I think we can forgo that this time around. I'm thinking you're pretty trustworthy, but also any current information I found on two of the three of you would probably not be real anyway."

I nodded my head, and Bucky gave her a sweet smile with a, "yes, ma'am."

"She's a golden retriever, so she's going to need exercise and she will shed everywhere."

We each received a stern look, and when Kathleen got to Steph, Steph just nodded solemnly and then cuddled the puppy closer. "At least she's not going to be super fast; she can come running with Darcy and I in the morning when she's big enough. And we have plenty of people around for her to play with."

Kathleen gave us a few more instructions and hints about what to do with Eden. Then she let the other puppies in "to say bye," and I couldn't help but be grateful that they were already spoken for when Steph gave Kathleen her number and said to call if anything fell through. When we tried to pay the adoption fees, Kathleen refused and said it had been covered by an anonymous fan, so I made a mental note to send some flowers to Kathleen and a donation to the rescue organization in her name.

We walked back outside, and the driver didn't even blink as we waked Eden around waiting for her to do her business before getting back in the car. This time, Steph chattered excitedly to us, the driver, and, of course, Eden as we traveled. As the city grew nearer, Steph pulled out her phone and looked up the pet store closest to the Tower, insisting that we be dropped off there and all walk home.

I wasn't so sure we'd be able to take the puppy into the store with us, but clearly I was wrong- Eden wasn't the only dog in there, but she and her adorable puppy antics were definitely the center of attention.

Hanging back a little, Bucky murmured to me, "tell the truth, did ya decide to get the dog as a costume? Because I gotta say, I don't think anyone is going to take a second look at our ugly mugs when that puppy is around!"

"Honestly, it didn't even pass my mind, but I think you're right. It was more what I said the other day about Steph having company in the apartment when we're gone for long stretches."

"And?" He prodded, apparently able to tell I was holding something back.

"They're supposed to be good therapy dogs. We've been lucky we haven't had any nightmares with Steph around yet, but we're overdue. Especially whenever we get called out again. Maybe the puppy will help."

"Betcha they both will."

We made our way forward, grabbing the largest bag of the brand of puppy food the store employee was recommending. When I hefted it easily over my shoulder, the woman gaped until I saw the light of understanding come into her eyes. Without any prompting, Steph picked up the pace to get us through the store faster when excited chatter started up around us. We checked out quickly, but did stop long enough to pose for a picture with our new family member. Steph promised to drag us back to sign it for the staff sometime down the road as a thanks for all their help.

As we made our way back to the Tower, I kept a hold of the food, Bucky was carrying way more bags than I would have thought Steph capable of procuring in such a short amount of time, and Steph was walking Eden. About halfway back, and with an increasing number of photographers around us, Eden stopped and laid down on the sidewalk. She was panting with what looked like a happy smile on her face, but she wasn't going anywhere. With a laugh, Steph squatted down and said, "well, alright then. It's a good thing you're so cute though!"

The rest of the way back, Steph carried Eden, and we chatted happily, ignoring those around us who were taking pictures and calling our names. One of the nicest things JARVIS did for us at times like these, was notify Tower security when he picked us up and detected that we were being followed. About a block away, Eden was squirming again, so Steph set her down and we slowed to the puppy's pace. By the time we got to the front doors of the Tower, JARVIS was opening them for us while security swiftly stepped out and made sure no one followed us into the building. Steph tossed a smile and a wave over her shoulder, and that was it.

As soon as we stepped into the elevator, it started rising. "Take us to Darcy first, please, JARVIS."

"Very well, she is on the common floor in the kitchen. She started baking about twenty minutes ago, after receiving a news alert on her phone. At the moment, she is arguing with Agent Barton."

Left unsaid was the fact that our interruption would be well timed."

When we stepped out, it was easy to hear a loud, exasperated Darcy yelling, "because first of all, it was clearly still raw!"

"The dough is usually the best part," Barton whined.

Not stopping, Darcy blared in, "and second of all, they have paw prints on them!"

"But why would you be making dog treats, Darcy?!" Barton cried out, clearly just as frustrated.

Right on cue, Eden let out a playful bark of delight at hearing more new friends. Her tail started wagging as Clint and Natasha backed out of the kitchen with wide eyes, taking the three of us humans and Eden in. Meanwhile, Darcy was so excited she reminded me of Eden waiting for us in the kitchen of Kathleen's house as she came running out tossing something between her hands.

"Oh, aren't you just the sweetest thing? Yes you are! And who made you 'Welcome to the Family' treats? Your Aunt Darcy did! Yes she did!" Darcy stopped tossing the object and I realized it was a treat. Holding it for a couple seconds thoughtfully, she finally looked at Steph and said, "they just came out of the oven, but it's cooled down enough now. Can I please give it to her?"

At Steph's nod, Darcy leaned down and offered her hand for smelling. Eden didn't really seem to have much care for self preservation though as she pretty much immediately labeled Darcy "friend" and started eagerly licking her hand. With a high pitched laugh, Darcy brought her other hand from behind her back and handed over the treat.

"Don't just give it to her!" Natasha said in disgust. When we looked at her in surprise, Natasha just fixed us with her no-nonsense look as she asked, "may I give her another?"

Steph looked a little nervous as she nodded her head, and Natasha disappeared into the kitchen and came out with another treat, breaking it into quarters. She let Eden sniff her for a few seconds before drawing her attention to the treat. Holding it up, she said firmly, "sit," then took half a step forward moving the treat back behind the Eden's head. As Eden tried to follow the treat with her eyes, her head tilted back and her butt hit the floor completely on accident.

"Good girl," Natasha purred out, leaning down to pet the puppy and give her a piece of the treat. She repeated the process three more times before looking at the rest of us and saying, "the younger you train her, the easier it is."

In her voice, I could hear such a haunted heartbreak that I wasn't at all surprised to see Steph pull her into a hug. When Natasha shot daggers out of her eyes at Bucky and I, we were quick to put our hands up and shake our heads frantically. No, we hadn't told anyone, even Steph, about Natasha's formative years spent being trained as an assassin in the Red Room. Even mentally, I refused to call it her "childhood" because from what little she'd told me, I was sure Natasha had never had one.

Luckily, Eden was clearly a therapy natural because she immediately started trying to play with Natasha. I chucked and said, "maybe we should take this down to our floor so we can take her off her leash?"

No sooner had the words left my mouth than Tony and Pepper came striding in from the elevator.

"Nonsense, she doesn't need to be on a leash in the Tower. JARVIS will make sure she doesn't go anywhere she shouldn't," Pepper said before kneeling down in her immaculate business clothes to enthusiastically greet Eden.

Tony stood off to the side, trying to look disinterested. That lasted all of two minutes until Eden focused her attention on him and pulled Steph, who was still holding the leash, over to to newcomer. I didn't see how anyone would be able to resist the greeting Eden gave Tony, so I wasn't surprised when his face broke into a reluctant smile and he reached down to pet the dog. As he did, he smoothly unhooked the leash, effectively bringing the matter to a close.

"Only one?" he asked pseudo innocently before laughing hysterically at the glare I shot him.

"I have a feeling one puppy will be handful enough," Bucky said.

Hearing his voice, Eden let out a joyful sound as close to a bark as she could manage, and spun around. Finding Bucky, she started running toward him only to trip over her over-sized paws at the last second and end up in a pile at his feet. Bucky scooped her up to check her for injuries while she tried to lick every inch of his face, and smiled over at me before saying, "kinda reminds me of you, Punk."

"Jerk," I replied without any bite, reaching out to give Eden a scratch behind her ears when she looked at me with that same excitement and unconditional love she'd shown everyone else. Yes, this puppy was going to fit right in- and maybe help mend some hearts that were war weary and worn these days.

* * *

**A/N:** Shout out to Okami this chapter! Hope you approve of the adoption of Eden! ;) Thanks for the recommendation. I spent hours on various pet adoption sites picking out a puppy for this chapter. Which was ridiculous because why did it need to be a real puppy? Regardless, Eden's story is real! (other than the part about being adopted by this bunch, obviously... hopefully she'll be adopted out soon though!)


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

_**Darcy's POV**_

Steph and I had decided that there was no need to wake up early on the weekend to run; not when autumn was here and it was plenty cool enough mid-morning to run without worrying about the heat. So when I awoke at a reasonable 9am, I asked JARVIS to let Steph know I was awake. Her immediate response had me stumbling out of bed, getting dressed, then meeting on her floor so I could say good morning to Eden while Steph finished getting ready.

As we rode the elevator downstairs, I asked Steph, "so, where are your boys? I kind of expected them to be hovering."

"Well, they left for their own run an hour ago, after taking Eden out, with no idea of when we were going out for our run because I told them it was up in the air. So, if I had to guess, I'd say that they are circling the blocks between here and the park, trying to stay out of sight so that we won't know they're following us once we get going."

"Obviously," I replied with a laugh. Reaching the lobby, we both pulled up short. Stark Industries security was fanned out in higher than usual numbers, and Happy Hogan and Maria Hill were barring our exit from the building.

"If you'll just wait a few moments, ladies," Happy started with an overcompensating smile that made it clear he was trying not to frighten us. "We just have a slight situation outside that needs to be resolved before we let VIPs such as yourselves out."

With a sigh, Steph said, "let me guess four to six men dressed in all black combat gear spaced at various intervals around the Tower exits? Communications equipment on, looking like they're set up to tail someone?" And Maria's nod and holding up of five fingers, Steph said, "I got this."

I watched in amusement as Steph slid her phone out of the pocket on the small of her back, and pushed a button. Catching Hill's eye, I mouthed "Ranger" and settled in to enjoy the side of the conversation I could hear.

"You saw the kind of surveillance network they had set up when they were able to show the video of me approaching the Tower after I was attacked." There was a pause and Steph pinching the bridge of her nose before she continued, "do you really think it was wise to try to test their security? Let alone necessary. They found all five of the guys you have out there."

When Steph dropped her head, Hill straightened up a fraction more. Looking over at her, Steph balanced her phone on her shoulder to hold up eight fingers.

"Mother fucker," Hill muttered and I watched as Happy scrambled over to a bank of monitors searching again.

The distraction of those two was enough that I missed Steph's end of the conversation as she came over with a sigh, "well, they're not going anywhere. So, let's just do this, crazy caravan trailing us and all."

I raised my brow at Hill, and she just gave a resigned gesture for the team in the lobby to stand down.

"Walk to the park then jog the full loop?" I suggested as we walked out the doors.

"How long is that?"

"The loop is about 6 miles," I said.

"I thought you didn't like running?"

"I don't, but I've long ago realized it's best to be able to run when the aliens come calling. Hang out with this group enough and you'll see what I mean."

Steph let out a grunt and said, "I learned that lesson, minus the aliens, myself a while ago with my own job. I'm curious to see if things are going to be more or less crazy now."

"If I had to guess, I'd say more," I answered, even though it wasn't really a question for me.

When we hit the park, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Steph and I fell into step at a comfortable pace that seemed to work for both of us. About half a mile in, Steph let out a laugh, and I looked over at her in surprise. "Oh, you missed them? Don't worry, I'm sure we'll see them again."

"Who?" I asked. Of course, that question was answered for me around a mile later. "Is that?"

"Yep. They're using our new puppy as a distraction to pull attention away from them, it seems. Which means one of them either waited until we left and went up and got her, or circled back once we showed up."

"But, they didn't run past us."

"Nope, I'm pretty sure that they let us pass them, then picked up Eden, and ran backwards around the loop until they could see us again and let us run past."

"Are you going to let them know you see them?"

"Now, where would the fun be in telling _any_ of them I see them?" Reaching down, she scooped up what looked like a rock and said, "I _am_ going to…" she trailed off before flinging the rock into a tree as we passed it.

"Hey!" came an indignant squawk, and I turned my head in time to see Ram slink out of the tree rubbing his shoulder.

"Nice shot," I said. Watching as she scooped up another one. This time when she threw it a few yards later, there was no sound. Not even the sound of the stone hitting a tree or the ground. "Was that one Clint?"

Steph nodded, and we kept the process up throughout the loop, occasionally passing Steve and Bucky and sometimes taking some of Steph's frustration out on our extra large guard duty for the day. As we reached the end of the park, I saw Steve and Bucky in the distance and said. "Race you to your boys! Whoever gets there first gets to play with Eden first!"

I could hear Steph calling behind me, "hey! She's my puppy!" but I was already on my way.

When I made it to the guys first, I just shrugged at Steve as I doubled over in front of the puppy. "Dunno, Cap!" I wheezed out.

"You're a little cheat!" Steph said when she reached us just a couple seconds later. Once she'd given each man a kiss, she flopped on the ground, laughing in delight when Eden wiggled and climbed all over her to lick every inch of Steph she could reach.

When it seemed like Eden was slowing down a little, Steve reached out a hand and said to Steph, "come on, let's keep you moving by walking home. Don't want to tighten up before you get to the gym!"

Steph let out a good-natured groan, but allowed Steve to help her to her feet and laughed when Bucky kept the leash for himself instead of passing it off to her when she reached for it. He did pull her into a kiss and murmured, "you're still beautiful as ever, Steph. Not gross, excessively red, or blotchy. And I didn't see any vomiting."

"If we take you with us, with the understanding you don't make fun of us for being slow like I know you do with Sam who is plenty fast," there were glances there at each man waiting for his agreement before she continued, "can the guard be stepped down from ridiculous?"

Steve rubbed his chest and said, "if you take Bucky and I with you, you can go without an additional guard from the team." Steph and I high-fived each other before he continued, "I can't make any promises for Ranger though. And we'd prefer that you not run outside when we're out on a mission. If you do, we'd ask that you at least take an armed and visibly present guard."

Steph and I shared a long look before we both shrugged and nodded. Steph took it one step further by sticking her hand out for Steve to take in his and solemnly shake before pulling her in and tickling until she cried uncle.

Together we started moving toward home, with Steph snuggled up to Steve as she and I discussed how we were going to manage to convince Ranger to decrease the Rangeman guard. Bucky had some dark things to say when he found out that Tower security hadn't correctly identified the number that had been waiting for us outside, which seemed to be Steph's leading worry for why Ranger wouldn't back down anytime soon.

As Steph chattered about Ranger's security obsessions, I allowed my mind to wander a little. Was I really willingly going to involve myself with someone who would be a security freak? Because there was no doubt about it, if I allowed Ranger to become _my_ _alpha_, he would be at least as intense about the issue as he ever had been about it for Steph, maybe more so.

During our time together, he'd hinted at covert operations work in his past having made him some extremely frightening enemies. Of course, I'd countered with my stories of aliens and gods. While the stories had made my point about my life and work being as dangerous as his, in different but just as scary ways, I didn't think that had made him any more comfortable about my safety. But at least I lived and worked somewhere with even more advanced security than his building.

Then again, having someone security crazy and with ample combat experience around could only help when things like evil dark elves attacking happened. I knew Ranger could keep me way safer than the horrible mistake that was the ex-intern Ian ever could.

After a while, clearly trying to lighten the mood a little, Steph asked, "Is Eden your new camouflage? Are we going to have to get her puppy Kevlar?"

"We would never take her on a mission," Bucky said.

"Don't say that, Buck. You don't know that for sure," Steve responded. When Steph and I gasped, he shrugged, "obviously I'd rather not, but what if we needed to infiltrate a puppy play group or something?"

"Then you'll find another way!" Steph responded stubbornly. "Or get Stark to make you a robot puppy."

That got a groan out of me, "please don't suggest that to Tony, he'll do it! But knowing him the dog will turn evil, or be so dumb that it does what ever the dog equivalent of DUM-E spraying everyone with a fire extinguisher who isn't on fire is!"

I shuddered not even wanting to contemplate it, and when the triad looked sufficiently spooked, I figured they understood the gravity of the situation. We stayed mostly silent for the rest of the walk, and it wasn't until we were in the Tower elevator that Steph spoke, "hey, Darcy, can I have your phone number? I mean, I know I can ask JARVIS to contact you, but it seems like contacting you directly myself sometimes might be easier. Plus, if I'm outside the Tower, then how would I do it?"

"Oh, it should be in your Starkphone already!" I replied without even stopping to think about it.

"I don't have a Starkphone- I just have a regular phone… the cheapest model I can get because they have a history of blowing up."

"WHAT?"

"They blow up… when I leave them in my car or apartment or wherever and then that place happens to blow up." I watched as Steph pulled the phone I hadn't paid attention to earlier out of her pocket and waved it at me. "See, just a standard phone. You can't even buy Starkphones, can you? I've heard of iPhones before, obviously, but not Starkphones. Stark Industries makes phones?"

"Stark Industries doesn't, Tony does. That's not the point though. Crap! JARVIS, skip the gym stop, we need to go to wherever Tony is stat!"

All three of my fellow elevator riders were looking at me like I was crazy, and I was staring at them the same way.

"I don't see what the big deal is, Darce. So she doesn't have a fancy phone. I hardly ever use mine, and it seems like she's perfectly happy with hers," Steve said warily.

At that I shot him a withering glare as I replied, "of course you don't, Grandpa! I expected better of you though, Steph."

"Why? I mean, seriously, if you blew up as many phones as I did, you wouldn't be anywhere near as attached to them. Phones and guns- they're almost always in my car when it blows."

The elevator doors opened onto the common floor where it seemed Tony, Pepper, Natasha, Clint, Sam, Thor, Jane, and Bruce were all gathered around some papers on the table.

"You're just in time, we were just about to order some brunch!" Tony called in delight, "but yeesh, you could have showered first!"

"Shut up Tony, we have a problem."

"Yeah, apparently Steph went out without a gun!" Bucky burst out.

Clint and Natasha wore matching looks of disappointment, while Jane and I looked at Bucky like he'd grown two heads because not carrying a gun everywhere was perfectly normal. Crap. Was Ranger going to make me get a gun?

Steph just said, "the cops have my gun! I'm sure Ranger will give me a new one next week when I start back up at the office. I'm required to wear one there at all times when I'm in the office or on the job; he gets mega grumpy when I forget it. They all do really-"

I cut off whatever else she was going to say, as well as the protests I was sure the espionage bunch were going to voice, saying, "no, not that. A serious problem!"

"Darce, Steph going out unarmed is a serious problem," Clint started. "She pisses off criminals for a living-"

"Shut it, Oliver Queen!" Making sure Tony was looking I tossed him Steph's phone.

"What is this abomination and what is it doing in my Tower?"

Natasha's raised brow showed me that she realized I was right about order of priority as Steph said, "seriously, why is everyone ragging on my phone?"

"Steph," Pepper said calmly, "where is your Starkphone?"

"Okay. Look. I don't know what that is, and I don't know why everyone thinks I have one. As I was telling Darcy, my phones, and guns," she muttered the guns part under her breath, "are always blowing up with my cars. So I just get the cheapest phone whenever I go in for a new one. It's no big deal."

Tony had risen and taken the phone over to a workstation built into the side of the breakfast bar. "You should have been given a Starkphone when you moved in if not before. And you wouldn't otherwise know what one is because they aren't publicly available."

"Okay, well, I'm fairly certain I wasn't given one."

"If I may," JARVIS interrupted. "I have no record of a phone ever being fabricated for Stephanie; I believe everyone was occupied with other matters when she began frequenting the Tower. I was, however, easily able to hack her phone and get her phone number and important numbers in case of emergency."

The elevator door opened and one of Tony's lab assistant robots who looked suspiciously new rolled out that was a more heavy duty workstation on wheels. I could swear Tony had given up making outrageous numbers of Iron Man suits in exchange for making robots. The one in question was followed by DUM-E carting a big box of supplies.

Because Steph still looked baffled, Bruce explained. "A phone like that is a huge security risk. Very easy to tap into, clone, and/or turn into a general area bug that you're likely to take everywhere with you."

"Who is going to hack my phone?!" Steph said in exasperation.

"Our enemies," the Avengers in the room said at the exact same time Pepper and I said, "paparazzi."

"Ooookaaayyyyy," Steph said wide eyed. "I can't say that's anything my stalkers and crazies have stooped to in the past. How is this magical Starkphone going to be better? And what happens when I blow it up?"

"It's going to be better because I made it," Tony said indignantly. "out of parts that cost more than a buck! How can you use this piece of crap? I mean, have you no self pride?"

Steve and Bucky bristled, but Steph just snapped back. "I have plenty, thanks, it just isn't wrapped in material possessions. And not all of us are rich! Seriously, there were weeks I lost multiple phones. Do you know how much it would cost to have to replace a fancy phone at least once a month? Added on to having to replace my gun a lot of of the time, and cars."

"Well, okay, Steph. But the gun and the phone should be on your body at all times when you're outside the Tower," Clint said slowly. "So they shouldn't be getting blown up because _you_ shouldn't be getting blown up."

"Now you sound like Ranger."

"Well, Ranger has a point," Steve said firmly.

Throwing her hands in the air, Steph said, "fine! I will try to carry both on my person more- once I get a new gun!"

"Which will be just after you get your new phone," Natasha replied in a no-nonsense tone. "The other way it will be a better phone is it is on the Avengers' communications network that Tony developed, rather than on a commercial one that uses public companies' cell towers. Our communication network has the highest encryption known to man, and we routinely check it for gaps in security."

"And it's linked to JARVIS, which is handy," Jane supplied, and I had to admit that I was impressed she was paying attention to the conversation. That wasn't a common occurrence, so I gave her a thumbs up, to which she returned a smile in response.

Taking a look at the items on the table, and I finding them to be menus, I said, "Alright, everyone just needs to calm down a little. Steph, Bucky, and Steve, why don't you pick out some lunch… brunch... whatever the hell it is. Let me know what you want, and I'll go ahead and order for you when we place the big order. Then just go down to the gym and finish whatever training it was you wanted to do today. Your food will be waiting when you get back. Once they've eaten, Tony, you can give Steph her phone and any instructions that come with it. THEN, Natasha and Clint, you can take her to the armory." I shot a look around the room at everyone, daring them to challenge me on the issue, satisfied when they decided to go back to being slightly more reasonable individuals. Not that I hadn't started it, but I didn't want Steph overwhelmed and she had been starting to smell a little frustrated with a hint of embarrassed, so I figured moving her along was for the best.

Once the trio had left for the gym, I turned to everyone else and hissed, "too far! You took it too far! You can't push that hard, she's still the new kid."

I got a chorus of "sorry, Darcy," that did a little to appease me.

When Natasha rose, I eyed her warily and asked, "and just what do you think you're doing?"

The look Natasha fired back told me to remember that she could kill me with her bare hands in at least a hundred ways if she wanted to. After she felt I'd been suitably reminded she said, "I'm going to help."

Once everyone else had settled into whatever they were doing, Clint circled around me as I set about gathering ingredients in the kitchen. "You did a good job just then, not letting Natasha see you sweat. I mean, she's Natasha, so she saw it, but if she wasn't Natasha, it would have been well done." I couldn't tell if he was patronizing me or not, so I just continued what I was doing.

Thor had followed Clint over as well, but so far remained quiet. To my surprise they let me work for a while before Clint finally caved and broke the silence, "Whatcha making?"

"Cookies."

That was met with an almost deafening silence.

"Forgive me, Darcy, but are cookies not those delightful sweet round treats you make for us sometimes?" Thor asked sounding genuinely puzzled.

"They are, indeed, Big Guy."

"Are these for the dog again?" Clint asked sounding like he was still angry with me over the fact that he's eaten dog treat dough. And I mean, how was that my fault? If he'd asked before he stole it, I would have warned him.

"Nope!" I said cheerily.

"Are they people food?"

"Yes."

"Darce?" I sighed and turned and looked at Clint in annoyance before he continued. "If you're making cookies for humans, why are you grating carrots?"

"I'm not grating them," I said, "I'm shredding them."

"Semantics," Clint replied with a careless wave of his hand to demonstrate that it didn't matter to him. "I think I speak for everyone in the Tower when I say, 'instead of carrots can we have chocolate?'."

"They aren't for anyone in the Tower."

"What is with this sudden baking-things-I-can't-eat kick you're on?" Clint whined.

"I believe I heard Darcy mention to my Lady Jane that Ranger prefers to eat healthy food. I can only assume Darcy makes these vegetable-containing delicacies in an effort to secure him as her suitor?"

"That's not the only reason," I mumbled out to myself. When I looked up, both alphas had wide grins of pride in their faces and had clearly heard me. "Oh, relax. It's early days yet."

"You've known him pretty much as long as Steve and Bucky have known Steph," Clint argued.

"They had fate practically shoving them together, and they're a triad. That's usually more stable. We're just... being careful with each other, okay?"

"And it is well done," Thor sad wisely. Then, like the big brother he is, he had to go and add, "and the next time I see Ranger, I shall remind him to take care with you, my shield sister."

I rolled my eyes, knowing I wasn't going to talk him out of it anyway, as I continued working. When Clint started reaching a finger for the bowl once it began to take dough form, I smacked his hand away. "Clint, if you'll just leave these alone, I will make a batch of cookies you will actually like while these are chilling! You won't like these anyway, they've got carrots, oats, and no refined sugar or flour!"

He grumbled something I couldn't understand, but since he backed away from the bowl, I assumed it was an agreement. Looking back over toward the table where everyone else was sitting, I could see Jane, Sam, and Pepper watching us with amusement. Bruce seemed to be helping Tony who had what looked like at least two dozen phones laid out on his mobile workstation.

"For the love of Thor, Tony!" When he looked up in surprise, I asked, "what on Earth are you doing?"

"She asked what happens when one of her phones blows up. And the answer is, she just picks up another one. I'll send a small batch of them to Rangeman, and the rest can just hang out here. Blow up a phone, grab another, it's easy. Plus, if they're already programmed before she gets back, she can't argue with me about the cost."

I laughed and shook my head, meeting Pepper's sparkling eyes. Tony had really weird ways of showing people he actually listened and cared.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

_**Steph's POV**_

Before I knew it, it was time for me to go back to work at Rangeman. Or really, I supposed, it was just "go to work at Rangeman" since I'd been earning full time pay for almost a month now but actually had never been in as an employee, rather than a contractor, before.

Although they had talked a good game about my job, I hadn't been working it since that first week of dates. And they'd really only seen it at peak disaster level. Well, close to peak. This whole drug thing was bad, but it seemed as though the organization had backed off, rather than fixating on me, so in my opinion, it wasn't as bad as the Slayers thing had been. Or Fishercat and that whole game. Or really any of the times I'd been stalked. Hooray for _not_ being stalked, really. It made life a lot easier.

So, I was nervous how Bucky and Steve, especially Steve and his alpha hormones, would react to me leaving the Tower without them for pretty much the first time since we'd bonded, and going back to work as a Bounty Hunter. At least I was going to have a partner! I was curious about who it would be. Steve had sworn he was okay with whoever my partner was, even if it was an alpha, because he knew the guys had always taken such good care of me- most of them thinking of me as a sister anyway. Really, I was hoping it was someone big because I figured that would make my guys the most comfortable.

Whoever it was was picking me up this morning, and after today I'd be driving a company car home each night at Ranger's insistence as one of the only employees who lived off site. Darcy and I had gone for a shortened version of our usual run, with Steve and Bucky, and the thankfully stepped down floating Rangeman guard of three. We'd had to wake up early to get even the shorter run in with time for Bucky to work a little on my training, and I knew I was going to have to find some way of thanking Darcy for doing so.

As we finished up breakfast, I was fidgeting.

"What's wrong, Steph?" Bucky asked.

"I'm just nervous. I want to know who my partner is, I'm hoping its one of the guys I can stand and won't drive crazy when we have to sit on surveillance. And I'm pretty sure Ranger's going to spring a fitness qualification test on me today."

"No way you're not going to pass that one, Doll," Steve said with a smile. "Somehow despite everything you've gone through, you're definitely in better shape now than before we met. And I'm sure Ranger was very careful about who he chose as your partner." Left unspoken was the fact that in the last week of my "disability" leave, since I'd agreed to train with Bucky, the guys had worked me hard. Whoever got to work the mats portion of my requalification was in for a bit of a surprise.

While he was talking, Steve was also systematically going through my weapons and checking them over. When he finished, Bucky started the process over again. Rather than point out how ridiculous the whole thing was since they'd watched me get dressed in my uniform and check everything before I put it on myself anyway, I just let them do it. Whatever made them comfortable was alright with me. Looking at the clock, I realized I needed to go, so when Bucky finished, I pressed a quick kiss to his lips before turning and doing the same to Steve.

"Alright, I'll see you guys at dinnertime tonight, unless something comes up for either of us. If that happens, I've got my phone."

As I walked toward the elevator, I was surprised that they both followed me. This time it was Bucky who was rolling his eyes (yes, I was a terrible influence), as he said, "we're going to meet your partner, Steph."

When the elevator doors opened, I was surprised to see everyone waiting for us- including Pepper and Jane. In that moment I realized why the elevator was so outrageously huge. "Seriously?" I asked, "this is beginning to feel like 'Steph's first day of kindergarten' or something! Don't you think you're being a little overprotective here?"

There was a chorus of denials around me, and when they finished, it was Pepper who said, "you're part of the family now. We just want to know who has your back."

"So we can kill them if anything happens to you," Clint murmured.

I had a feeling he'd expected me not to hear, but I did. So I spun on him and said, "hey, it's a dangerous job and we're partners. He isn't my bodyguard, whoever he is. We're partners. We have each other's backs, and if something happens to either one of us, it won't be for lack of trying. Whichever of us is left standing will feel guilty as hell, so don't you put that on him if I'm the one who is down. These men have already risked their lives for me time and time again, and they don't have to prove _anything_ to you!"

While I'd been talking, I'd been backing Clint into a corner with a finger poking repeatedly at his chest. His eyes widened in surprise at my behavior and he put his hands up, but it was Sam who said, "whoa there, Tiger. I think he gets it; we all get it."

With a nod, I straightened up and turned to face the front again just as the elevator doors were opening. I moved out of the elevator in front of the group, but stopped short when I saw Tank standing in the lobby waiting for me.

"What's up, Big Guy?" I said, stepping forward to give him a hug once I'd started moving again. "Change of plans? I thought my partner was meeting me."

He returned the hug with a, "good morning, Little Girl. No change of plans."

"I don't understand," I said, completely confused. "You're Ranger's partner."

"I'm second in command of the bond enforcement branch of Rangeman; that means I'm the partner of whoever is first in command of that branch."

"Okay, but still Ranger."

"Ranger is CEO; he doesn't have time to be head of the bond enforcement and fugitive location branch. He's been waiting to find someone suitable, who was willing to work full-time, to take it over. Either that or he was going to have to close off the branch."

"I still don't understand. If Ranger's not in charge of that part of the company anymore, then aren't _you_?"

Tank reached into his oversized cargos and pulled out a stack of papers, handing them to me. Looking down I saw it was a formal offer letter and promotion information for me to head of the part of Rangeman in question. Looking up at Tank, I stopped and looked down at the paperwork in my hand again. Then I looked back up, "but why aren't you in charge?"

"I'm not the right person for the job, Steph. I'm pure muscle, but you can track anyone we put in front of you. Plus I have some additional administrative responsibilities. You pick things up from everyone else's cases and research that no one else picks up when you look at them. It's gotta be you, and I'm happy to stay right where I am."

"But… I can't be in charge!"

Tank's face remained impassive as he asked, "why not?"

"Because! I'm an omega!" Natasha walked up from behind me as soon as the words left my mouth and slugged me in the arm. Hard. "Oww!" I cried, rubbing the spot I knew was going to bruise and looking at her wide eyed.

"I don't want to _ever_ hear you fucking say that again!" she said fiercely.

"Jesus! Okay! I just meant I don't go on all the takedowns because I don't like going after alphas!"

"Give Bucky a few more weeks and you'll be more than capable of doing so, Steph. You probably are now, you just need to be more confident about it," Natasha said adding, "and everything else."

"And Ranger didn't go on all the takedowns anyway," Tank said. "Just the big ones. And you go on those too. It's up to you now to put yourself where you want to be and delegate the rest."

"And the guys are okay with it?"

"It's their job to be, and you get to call them to the mats now if they aren't." When I laughed, Tank said, "didn't say you had to fight them, though I daresay you could. You can delegate that honor out to your second in command whenever you want."

I frowned, because that wasn't what I really wanted to hear. Although I did figure most of the guys probably would take it well. There were about a million thoughts rolling around in my head, so I stuck the paperwork under one arm and reached back to latch onto Steve and Bucky. Pulling them to the farthest corner of the lobby I could get to that had three chairs and a small table, I sat. Once they'd both done so as well, I slapped the paperwork on the table and leaned back. Both men mimicked my pose and finally I blurted out, "what do you think? Did you know about this?"

"Why would we know about this?" Bucky asked genuinely baffled.

"This is between you and Ranger, Steph. It's not our decision," Steve said. "And for what it's worth, I agree with Natasha's sentiment. Though not with her hitting you. I'll have words with her about that later."

"Don't bother; she was right," I murmured. "The little sneak had me sign a regular contract first, so he could lure me in. Then, bam! promotion."

"Rat bastard," Bucky said dryly.

"Oh shut your face, you."

"I thought you wanted our opinions," he continued to tease. I appreciated being able to laugh.

"The media will find out about this at some point if they're as interested in me as you seem to think they will be."

"We continue to support Stephanie in her career choices and are proud of her for this well-deserved promotion," Steve immediately spouted off. "We have no further comment on the matter other than to say that omegas can, and should, be granted all the same workplace rights and freedoms as everyone else."

"Alright then," I said, spreading the papers out before me. "I suspect… yep! There it is! Ranger pretty much always went out with a guard when this was his job. Some due to his enemies from the special forces work, so I imagine he still will, but some because of the enemies he made on the streets. This position is going to draw more attention from the unsavory elements of the city… and sometimes we take on federal cases as well. Though not that often. Anyway, he's going to put a guard on me off-duty. It's not meant to disparage you two, or the team, or your ability to keep me safe. I'm pretty sure it's actually an insurance thing as much as it is a Ranger and his Merry Men's piece of mind thing."

"That's good since we're not always around anyway, Steph. And most of the non-Avengers have an SI guard on them when they leave the Tower anyway. Just ask Pepper, Darcy, and Jane. You'll still have one of those when we're not around as well, just so you know."

"They can't follow me while I'm on the job."

"You pick up your body armor today, and you don't leave for work in the morning from now on without it," Bucky said.

"Agreed. And also in the contract. Would you like to see?" I shoved the paperwork across the table, and Bucky read through the personal security section before passing it off to Steve. Then they read through the rest of it together, nodding intermittently as they did so.

"Everything looks good to me," Bucky said.

"Me as well," Steve agreed before hesitantly saying, "have you looked at this compensation section yet?"

I groaned out loud and said, "what did he do?"

When he handed me the paperwork back, I flipped to the appropriate section and sighed. I'd been given a raise, plus I'd get a cut of the bonds brought in as bonus based on how the department performed as a whole, and apparently I was being granted a small ownership stake in the company as a signing bonus.

I read it over multiple times before finally saying, "whatever, it's his company, and all that is going to happen is I'm going to argue with him over it and either it's going to stay the same, or he's going to wind up paying me more. Does this need to go through the Avengers' lawyers or anything?"

Steve waved Pepper over, and I handed her the paperwork. She read through it all and said, "this is great, Steph! Now, since you're a bondmate to the guys here, and they're Avengers, I'm going to need to have Stark Industries' lawyers add some language to this. Just formally separating the two since you have an ownership stake in both."

"Excuse me, I what?"

"Each of the Avengers has an equal ownership stake in that subsidiary of Stark Industries. As their bondmate, it is legally equally yours. I'm assuming, of course, you guys signed and mailed in all the paperwork JARVIS provided you that registered you as such, right?" Steve and Bucky nodded in the affirmative, and Pepper added, "that included the paperwork adding you to their stakes. Why is this a surprise?"

"Uh, I didn't read it? I just signed where they told me to sign?"

Pepper pinched the bridge of her nose before calmly saying, "I'm going to have to ask you to stop doing that. One third of their combined stake is worth a lot both financially and just in terms of power."

"Yeah. No problem. Sorry about that. But hey! I caught this because I read it!" Steve cleared his throat and I realized he had a point. Steve had been the one to read and point out the clause, but not wanting him to tell Pepper that, I powered on. "Ummm, so I'll go in with Tank, and let Ranger know that we'll need to make some amendments?"

"Yes, I'll gather the lawyers and we'll be over shortly. You know, Steph. What you said earlier… you can't think that way because plenty of people are going to be doing that for you. Talk to Tony sometime about all the crap he got when he was CEO of Stark Industries, okay? Hell, even when I took over, there were plenty of people who didn't like that I was 'just' a beta. You can't do that to yourself because there will be a line of people waiting to do that for you. Fight them every chance you get, okay? Promise me that?"

"I hear you, Pepper. And I promise."

She stepped forward and gave me a hug, whispering in my ear, "congratulations. Now give anyone who doubts you hell."

When she walked away I turned back to Steve and Bucky and asked, "shared partial ownership stake? In the _Avengers_. Were you going to tell me?"

Steve smoothed his tongue over his teeth and said, "you know, Pepper's right. You really shouldn't sign things without reading them."

I knew he was teasing me, so I poked at his belly and purred, "yes, _alpha_."

The last word was said in the voice I used almost exclusively in the bedroom, and his pupils blew wide. I laughed when Bucky groaned and said, "you don't fight fair."

"What is it you always tell me when we're training? 'There's no such thing as a fair fight, only survival.'" I smiled up at him innocently.

He pulled me into his own hug, gave me a kiss, and said, "that's exactly right, Doll. And you remember it on the street today and every day, okay? Now, don't you have work to do? If you're the boss now, you probably shouldn't be late."

"Ha ha ha, you're so funny," I said even as Steve pulled me in for a hug and a kiss of his own. When he was done, he turned me back toward the waiting group and shoved me forward with a little pat on the butt.

"Get out of here, _omega_. The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll come home to us."

I strode forward, more confidently than I'd left, and walked back to Tank. "Alright, Partner. Let's get going."

While Tank was usually second only to Ranger in the blank-face department, I could still tell that he was relieved as we walked together to the elevator down to the parking garage. When we reached the SUV, he took me by surprise by walking around to the passenger side and climbing in. I opened the driver's side door and caught the keys he was tossing me, "I thought omegas could only drive with you in bed?"

"You're not an omega now; you're the boss."

"And you're sure you're alright with that?"

"Little Girl, your capture rate is better than Ranger's."

"Some of it's luck."

"That's true for everyone in the business, so it cancels out."

"True. You know I'm going to have an extra large target painted on my back. At least for a while. Every time we're on the streets, people are going to push once they find out."

I looked over and saw a look of childish glee on Tank's face as he said, "I can't wait. People were hardly ever taking shots at Ranger anymore."

"You're a strange, strange man, Tank," I said as I pulled out onto the street. "Sick, maybe."

"Sticks and stones, Bomber."

"I hate to tell you this, Tank, but I don't think sticks and stones actually _can_ break your bones. You're sturdier than anyone else I know."

"Hulk," Tank said in response. Guess we were back to one word answers, for the time being. Though, if the first part of the morning was any indication, I had a feeling that might change a bit more often now that we were partners. What a crazy day this had been, and it wasn't even 8am yet.

"I actually haven't met Hulk yet, just Bruce. Though depending on how hard you threw the sticks and stones, Bruce would turn into the Hulk, so I concede the point."

As soon as we hit the other side of the gates, the paparazzi started up their usual fervor, even though they couldn't see into the tinted windows.

"Ran the plates when you came in," I mused out loud to Tank. "Figured that meant I was going into work today."

"Yep." Tank picked up the paperwork from where I'd tossed it in the cupholder, putting on a show of being disinterested in the photographers. "Thought you called me partner?"

"Can't sign it yet, need to make a few changes," I replied as I pulled up to a red light.

I looked over at him, and he said, "Bomber, this has already gone through the leadership team, you're not going to convince Ranger to give you anything less.

The light changed to green and I started driving again as I responded, "it's not that. Apparently each of the Avengers owns an equal stake in that subsidiary of Stark Industries. That's one stake each for Bucky and Steve. It seems that when we were signing all the paperwork to make our bond official in the eyes of the government and God or whatever, they snuck in some paperwork on me. Those two stakes are now equally owned among the three of us."

"Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk. Plus Winter Soldier and Falcon now, that's eight."

"Yep."

"Two stakes is twenty five percent."

"Yes."

"Holy shit, Stephanie Plum! You own just over eight percent of the Avengers."

I sighed, "So it would seem. And after a mini-lecture from Pepper Potts on reading paperwork before I sign it now that I have such responsibility, she let me know she'll be following with a team of lawyers shortly. They need to add some clauses to make it clear that everything is separate."

"Huh."

"Yeah." After a couple minutes, I had a realization. "Crap. I bet they put me on some bank accounts too."

"Yep."

"I think I'm going to need an accountant, Tank, this sucks."

He just started laughing, and for that matter still was when we pulled into our parking spot at Rangeman and got in the elevator.

"You know you're breaking whoever is on monitors right now, right?"

"If that's all it takes to break them, then they need to be gone," was his response.

"Ranger in?" I asked as the elevator doors opened. When Tank nodded, we walked together to his office. I knocked on the doorway and peeked my head in, waiting to be waved in the rest of the way. As I settled into my chair across the desk from Ranger, he just stared at me blankly with his fingers steepled in front of him, pointers resting on his lips and his elbows on the table. Waiting, patiently. In response, I kicked my feet up onto his desk, leaned back in my chair, and otherwise mimicked the pose with my elbows on the arms of the chair. Rangers lips twitched in amusement, and when I held the blank face, he let out a surprised laugh of delight before getting up to give me a big hug.

"See, I have nothing more to teach you, Eliza!"

It was my turn to laugh and say, "If you say so, Professor Higgins." Feeling a slight buzz in my pocket, I reached in and pulled out my phone. It was a notification from Pepper that her eta had been pushed back due to a slight crisis with one of their manufacturing plants. She and the lawyers would arrive in about two hours.

"Alright, well, this was fun. Let's get to the re-certification I assume I have to do- at the employee standards rather than contractor?"

Ranger shifted as he said, "Babe, if you need some time to train..."

I waved him off, "it'll be fine."

His eyebrows raised in surprise, but he didn't say anything else on the matter. Instead he chose to say, "don't you have some paperwork for me then?"

"Oh, my lawyers will be here in a couple hours to make some changes to it, then I'll sign."

Ranger just sat there waiting for me expectantly, and when I gave in and explained the whole thing, his lips quirked upwards in a ghost of a smile again. When Tank started laughing and telling him about the accountant thing, Ranger joined in.

I pouted and crossed my hands over my chest and waited for them to stop. Finally Ranger stood, "that's fine. I'll make sure our lawyers are here in two hours."

When he guided me out of the office with the same hand on the small of the back he always did, I smiled. Then I nudged him as we hit the staircase and said, "Darcy says 'hi'."

His next step was just a hair shorter than it should have been, which I of course noticed but chose not to comment on. "That's good," he mumbled.

"Don't worry, Boss. I gave her the shovel talk."

"You did not."

"Did too."

"Babe."

I smirked to myself and said, "I only thought it was fair since you will, no doubt, been getting one from each Avenger. Particularly the God of Thunder who is, for all intents and purposes, her brother."

"Already got it."

"Give you nightmares?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"That's what I thought."

I heard the staircase doors open back on the level we'd come from and a herd of stampeding Merry Men behind us, so I dropped the topic. When they reached the gym after us, I got a round of hugs, and then everyone set themselves up around the room to watch. We started with the run, which I passed even more easily than I expected given the morning's run. Then we moved on to what I called the "ups"- push ups, chin ups, and sit ups. Those were tougher, but I still made it through just fine.

Final event before the shooting range, was of course, combat. I climbed onto the mats and said, "who is it going to be?"

Ranger looked at me, taking in my confident stance, before climbing up himself. While the run had a set distance, and the ups had a set number that had to be completed, the combat test was a timed event and was a more subjective pass or fail. I barely noticed a few more people come in to watch as we got started on the hour long fight. The first time I threw Ranger to the mats, he looked at me in surprise.

I let him up, he smiled, and I knew it was on. After that, he moved a lot faster, didn't hold anything back, and still didn't manage to pin me once. He threw me a couple times, but I was up before he could pin. I, on the other hand, pinned him four more times such that he was so stuck he had to tap out to get back up. By the time Tank called that time was up, the gym was silent.

I stood there awkwardly for a moment and then mumbled, "I've been training with Bucky for the past week."

"Beautiful, you learned Krav Maga in a week?" Lester asked.

"Oh, I mean, I know I have a lot of room to improve… we've been focusing on the hand to hand because I knew this test was coming up. And it's the most immediately useful on the street." I looked around the room, bewildered by everyone's response and said, "Bucky's a good teacher, and Natasha's been in charge of the self discipline aspect. Let me tell you, she's more than a little frightening. And the past couple of days, Clint and Sam were letting me spar with them with Natasha and Bucky critiquing and adjusting…" I trailed off lamely, not really sure what else to say.

It was Tank who broke the silence using an unrealistically high-pitched voice that sounded ridiculously insincere as he said, "I couldn't possibly be in charge of the Bounty Hunting branch, I'm just an omega." Then he rubbed his hands eagerly and said, "this is gonna be so fun! I want to spar with you sometime soon."

I shrugged, walking over to the towel and water bottle I'd been using. "That's fine, Bucky will just want to review the tapes. Speaking of, Ranger, were we recording? Can I get a copy?"

"Beautiful, it is already in your email… and that of every other Rangeman employee and contractor." I glanced over at Ranger, but he looked proud and satisfied. Well, at least that was one unexpectedly easy way to clear up any doubters inside Rangeman.

I narrowed my eyes as Ranger and Bobby walked my way, "did you go easy on me?"

"Not after you threw me the first time, Babe."

Bobby gave us both a significant look and asked, "you said Bucky has an eidetic memory?" When I nodded, he quietly asked, "any chance that extends beyond the ability to remember things and goes into the land of muscle memory as well?"

"I honestly have no idea, why?"

"Just make sure Banner is there when you show them the video, okay?"

"Will do," I said while stashing my weapons back in their rightful places. "Oh, hey, Ranger. So the guys have this plot of land upstate-"

"Don't you mean 'we' have a plot of land upstate?" He shot back with a laugh.

I groaned and said, "I don't know, probably. I think I'm going to have to ask JARVIS to let me look at all that paperwork over again. At any rate, I was thinking we could do some kind of joint training day. Steve and Bucky said they'd set it up if you were interested, so just let me know."

Lester, who had walked up in time to hear that last bit asked, "we get to play in the woods with the Black Widow?"

"You know she was an assassin, right?"

"Yes!" Lester said gleefully.

"Okay, well, it's your funeral. For the record, I'd recommend you never repeat that around her or anyone else who lives in the Tower."

Ranger cut in, presumably before Lester could say anything else stupid with, "that sounds like an invaluable opportunity; we'll set something up. Now, what do you say we go down to the shooting range and finish this thing out?"


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

_**Bucky's POV**_

Once Steph and Tank were in the elevator and on their way down to the garage, I turned back to Steve and we both grinned. Most importantly, Tank was the guy at Rangeman who probably treated Steph the most like a little sister, and the one next to Ranger with whom she was the most comfortable. And that was what made him a good match for Steph. What made Steve and I who pleased, however, was that at 6' 4", Tank was slightly taller than Steve and almost as muscular as Thor. Granted, Tank wasn't Asgardian, and didn't have super serum powering those muscles, but for a human he was about as good as we could ask for in the intimidating presence department.

As we all piled back into the elevator, I looked over at Natasha, "did you have to hit her?"

"Yes," Natasha said blandly. "She shouldn't say things like that about herself ever. But she definitely shouldn't say them in public. Hopefully she'll think twice about doing so again."

There was an awkward silence as everyone thought about Natasha's words before everyone decided to just let it go for now. I'd still prefer that she hadn't hit Steph like that, but Steph herself hadn't seemed too bothered by it, so I'd have to leave it between the two women.

When we got to the gym, Steve and I set about our strength training exercises before moving on to sparring. A short time later, it turned into a team sparring session, which usually wound up being an "everyone against Thor" session followed by a free-for-all once the demigod had been taken down. As always, there was some light conversation going around during, and it was Steve who finally said, "you think she passed her qualifications? Maybe we shouldn't have had her run this morning."

"Steve, you know as well as I do that there's something going on with my blood and her healing still. It wasn't as fast on the stitches, but she's able to workout longer and not be as sore as we'd expect otherwise. The only thing I'm worried about is the marksmanship."

Unfortunately for him, Clint overheard me and stopped dead in his tracks instead of continuing his sparring and got clocked square in the cheek by Sam. He hit the mat hard and Sam was scrambling, "Jeez man, why'd you stop like that."

Everyone else turned and watched as Clint shook it off then turned to me and said, "Steph can't shoot?"

"Dunno. She hasn't let us work with her on weapons yet. She might be an okay shot, but at the very least she doesn't like guns and fights with Ranger over having to put in time at the range."

"Shit," Clint spat out. "If she's going to carry a gun, she's gotta be able to shoot."

"She can shoot- she's killed with a gun before," Natasha put in. "Although, I think that is part of the problem with why she doesn't like them."

"Wait, what?" Sam asked.

I looked over at Steve, relieved to see the same resolve in his eyes before I responded, "if you want to know about it, you'll have to ask Steph. But yes, she has shot people and things both fatally and non-fatally. And she has been shot herself multiple times. Due to her reluctance with weapons, we've been focusing on hand-to-hand combat. If we can keep her from getting grabbed off the street, that is a big one."

Everyone kind of dropped the subject after little more debate, but I was unsurprised when it Clint brought it up again that night after dinner.

"Steph, what's this I hear about you not liking guns?"

Darcy sucked in a breath, but Steph just stared him down, face blank. "That's right, I don't like guns."

"Did you pass your qualification test today?"

Steph turned her head this way and that so she could glance out of the corner of her eye at Steve and then me before saying tersely, "barely, but yes."

"I'd like to work with you on that, if that's okay."

There was kind of a collective intake of breath around the table that was only released when Steph looked down at her plate and muttered out a, "fine."

I was hoping they'd drop it there, but Sam pushed. "Steph, have you ever shot someone with your gun?"

I could smell the distress coming off of Steph even as her hand squeezed mine in distress as she came up verbally swinging. "It was self-defense both times! Look, I don't want to talk about this. Jimmy Alpha and Clyde Cone. If you want to know, I'm sure JARVIS can find the information for you. Or ask Ranger, I'll tell him to let you look at his files if you want."

She pushed back from the table and took her plate over to the kitchen. When Steve and I made to get up and go after her, Sam just waved us down and did so himself. From our seats, I could barely make out Sam apologizing for upsetting her in front of everyone and asking her to consider please talking to him about it sometime or allowing him to recommend someone else for her to talk to. Steph told him she'd think about it, and that was better than the second explosion I'd been expecting, so I relaxed a little.

As Steph rejoined us, I asked, "how'd the rest of the testing go?"

"It was great!" she beamed back. "Actually, one thing was kind of weird. Everyone was thrown off by my combat session, and afterward Bobby asked me some questions about your memory. Mostly he wanted to know if in addition to being photographic, you had enhanced muscle memory. Then he asked me to get Bruce to watch the video too when I showed it to the two of you."

I went on alert in my seat, and noticed Steve, as well as pretty much everyone else doing the same. Calmly I asked, "have you watched it yet?"

"No, but it should be interesting. It all happened so fast that I hardly remember any of it."

Well shit. I was pretty sure "interesting" was going to be the least of it.

With a sense of dread I asked, "did you bring a copy home?"

"Yes, Lester emailed it out to all of Rangeman, but I downloaded it onto my phone. I assume we can ask JARVIS and…" she trailed off as the TV in the other room turned on, showing a paused video of the inside of the Rangeman gym. Quickly the rest of us got up and stashed our dishes before settling down in front of the TV. Steve and I sat on a loveseat with Steph draped across our laps. I was pleased to find that she'd decided to cuddle up with me and put her legs along Steve's lap this time.

As everyone was settling in, all we could see in the video so far was Steph standing in the boxing ring alone on the paused screen. I rolled my eyes as I noticed that Tony was handing out bowls of popcorn, then thought better of the high road as I took one for us. It was Darcy to ask, "who'd you spar with?"

"Ranger," Steph said. She must have felt me startle in surprise because she shrugged and added, "I think he wanted to be sure that no one was going easy on me or anything like that. If he's sending me into the field in the position he's giving me, he wants to make sure I can take care of myself. No matter how much he says to himself that I can handle it, he needed to _know_ it too. If he wasn't satisfied, I'd have been on the mats every day until he was before I set foot in the field."

Finally everyone was ready, and Steph said, "go ahead, JARVIS."

There was a healthy amount of laughing and cheering going on as the fight started. From what I could tell, Ranger did seem to be going a little easy on Steph to start, probably with the intent of getting her warmed up. Once Ranger landed the first real blow on Steph though, something strange happened. It was like someone had flipped a switch and sent Steph into a much deadlier mode. She was moving faster, more efficiently, and with much more precision than I'd seen her move in any of our sessions together. It reminded me of videos I'd watched of Steve and I fighting, and on Steph's end it was unnaturally quick. All the moves were ones I had shown her, and a few Natasha had thrown in, so I had no doubt that she had picked them up from us.

Then she managed to throw and pin him a couple minutes in, and I knew I was watching something I'd honestly thought by this point we weren't going to see ever. Effects of my serums in Steph. The third time she threw Ranger, Darcy finally broke the silence that had settled over the group, "goodness! how long did you fight?"

"An hour," Steph replied, "we don't have to watch-"

"Shhhhh!" came from everyone else, interrupting what I was sure was Steph offering to have us not watch the whole fight if we didn't find it interesting. Of course, what Steph wasn't accounting for, which surprised me given the fact that I was pretty sure her friends at Rangeman were the same way, was the fact that we all enjoyed watching things like this.

By the time the hour was up, everyone in the room turned to look at Steph who was sitting on my lap still with wide eyes. "No offense to you, Mr. Miyagi, but I'm pretty sure I'm not actually that good!" I didn't have time to ask what she was talking about before the conversation moved on, so I made a mental note to look it up later.

"All evidence to the contrary, Steph. Clearly you ARE that good," Tony said. "Embrace it. I always do. I'm Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, reformed-playboy, philanthropist. Apparently you are Stephanie Plum, surprisingly dangerous."

I said, "Hey, Steve, did you notice that she only got the fast reflexes and really good fighting-"

"After Ranger hit her," Bruce cut in. "And she was only super fast running the one time-"

This time Steve cut in, "when she'd been attacked and was being chased."

"You know what I'm thinking, Bruce?" Tony asked.

"No, Tony. We are not just going to inject her with Epinephrine to see what happens." Steph looked like she was about to ask, so Bruce said, "epinephrine triggers the release of norepinephrine in the body; the two combine to be a large part of the fight-or-flight response… norepinephrine can increase heart rate, trigger release of glucose energy stores, and increase blood flow to your skeletal muscles. It also has various links to cognitive alertness."

"Basically in normal humans who didn't get a super soldier infusion, it increases blood flow to muscles, does a bunch of things to make them feel like they have more energy, actually makes them clot more to prevent excessive blood loss, and increases muscle tension to make them stronger and faster," Tony expounded.

"And you think that because of Bucky's blood, I'm experiencing this… what? Stronger?"

"And possibly more easily- you had to have known you weren't really in danger when Ranger hit you, but it still triggered," Bruce said. "It might be a good idea for you to take up meditation, just in case controlling it becomes an issue. I'd be happy to help you with that if you'd like. Though, you clearly knew you were sparring, so while it triggered, you don't seem excessively angry, which is good. Just… more alert and faster."

"So I can still work like I have been, and train like I have been? Are there tests you _do_ want to run?"

"Maybe some cognitive and memory tests, but without a baseline, they won't help that much unless you're going to get a really advanced result. Which you might, but I think you would have already noticed that kind of difference."

"I will trade you meditation in exchange for not having to do more medical tests unless something major comes up."

With a soft smile Bruce nodded his head, and said, "agreed."

"But hey," I added, rubbing my hands together excitedly. "now that we know you're picking this stuff up fast, we can throw more training at you more quickly- more moves, more scenarios, and more styles."

Clint, Natasha, and I started discussing various things to begin working into training, and continued to do so for several minutes before Steve cut in asking, "Steph, how did you feel after that fight? Did you feel okay or were you shaky? Because if you have a big adrenaline dump after, I think we should save your training until you're home each night. It wouldn't be a good thing for you to hit the streets already exhausted on an adrenaline hangover if you get triggered during training in the morning."

"As much as you know I would love an excuse to sleep in," Steph said, "I felt perfectly fine after other than a couple of bruises, which you will not fuss over!"

The last part was said while batting my hands away from trying to find the bruises as I mentally played back each of the strikes Ranger had managed to land. I let her think she had won as I kept going through the queue in my head, silently noting each place I was going to inspect once I got her upstairs. As I did so, conversation continued around us. After about ten more minutes, I met Steve's eyes when his hand squeezed my shoulder to get my attention. Standing up, I kept Steph in my arms and walked with Steve to the elevator, ignoring the catcalls and whistles from our friends. Once we got her upstairs, Steve and I took turns thoroughly examining her body for injuries… and distracting her while enjoying ourselves as we did so.

Over the course of the rest of the week, we began to develop a sort of routine. Morning workouts continued, with Steve and I running with Darcy and Steph. Every day we were closely watched by a somewhat smaller Rangeman guard- Tank actually usually came out and ran with us, but two men were always circling us. Sometimes more. Steph said that the days with more were usually because they couldn't decide who "got" to do it. She always used the air quotes because she couldn't understand why people would want that duty. It was times like that I wanted to set fire to Trenton for the damage they'd done to Steph's perception of her self worth.

Halfway through Steph's second week back at work, Steve and I had to leave for our first mission since Steph's arrival. It proved to be a bust, with a lot of action but nothing valuable gained. When we walked back into the apartment in the early morning hours two days later, we found Steph passed out in front of the TV with Ghostbusters on, completely wrapped up in the comforter from the bed with my shirt on and Steve's sweatshirt over it and Eden curled up on her feet. With a low chuckle, Steve walked over and picked Steph up, blanket and all and carry her into the bedroom with Eden trailing eagerly behind.

She woke just enough to say, "you're back!" and then, as she looked us over, "Yummmm. Let's talk about your uniforms some more another time, and whether or not certain things count as desecrating the flag." Steve just shook his head, but I had to side with Steph on that one, Steve's uniform clearly displayed the fact that he was the pinnacle of human physique. And I knew I'd caught him checking me out in my own on more than one occasion, but if he wanted to pretend otherwise, I'd let it go… for the time being. After all, the mission may have failed to garner any actionable intel, but I was still filthy and tired from battle. All I really wanted was a shower and to snuggle into our bed together.

Unfortunately, I was woken just before dawn to find Steve in the grips of a nightmare. Thankfully I was between him and Steph at the moment, so I was able to roll into Steph, put my hand over her mouth and wake her quietly.

"Steph, I need you and Eden to go into the other room until I get Steve out of this nightmare. Okay?" I breathed in her ear, hoping she could hear me and Steve wouldn't in his sleep.

She stiffened against me and nodded her head. When I released her she slipped silently out of the bed, taking the puppy with her. It took me a good twenty minutes to wake Steve up, and when I did, he woke up swinging. After that, none of us, not even Steph, managed to fall back asleep. We took Steph and Darcy for their morning run, but when we reached the Tower, Steve kept going saying he'd be back before Steph left for the office.

At that point, we should have known that it was just going to be one of those days and stayed in bed. Not that it was really an option with our varying responsibilities. By midday, I was dreaming of a vacation when my phone chimed in a text alert. Steph was letting Steve and I know that we shouldn't wait dinner on her. It was going to be a late night at the office for her, they had a pickup to make in the evening when their skip returned home from work.

Dinner went well enough, though we both obviously were missing Steph's presence. Clint apparently decided that we needed to watch a show called The Walking Dead to "prepare as a team, just in case," and we were partway through the second episode, with ice cream, when the TV paused.

"Pardon the interruption, but Rangeman is attempting to contact the Tower," JARVIS said.

Immediately on alert, I jumped up and frantically ordered, "connect the call, JARVIS!"

"Hello?" Steve called out when we heard the phone click on over the speakers.

"Steph is okay," a voice I immediately recognized as Ranger's said as soon as he heard Steve. "She's only mildly injured. I'd imagine she'll be fine by morning, just some scratches and some burns. Bobby checked her over, and she didn't even need any stitches. Just, you know, clean her up a little when she gets in and she'll be physically fine in the morning."

"Physically?" I asked.

"Yes," Ranger said with a very telling pause.

"What about emotionally?" Steve asked.

Ranger cleared his throat, "are there any civilians there?"

I cast a glance over at Darcy, Jane, and Pepper who were all standing, chins jutted out and looks of mutiny on their faces. It was Darcy who answered, "yes, and we're staying."

Ranger had too much self discipline to sigh over the phone, but I could tell he wanted to. Still, he continued without further argument, "Steph and Tank were in the lead car, and the skip saw them out of the dining room window. Apparently he was expecting them, and he threw a makeshift molotov cocktail out said window. They managed to bail out of the SUV before it exploded-"

"Thank God," Steve said. "Is Tank okay?"

"Yes. The, uh, skip saw the rest of the SUVs, must have gone to the back and seen the men waiting there, and decided he didn't want to go in. It seems he also decided his _pregnant_ omega girlfriend had sold him out."

"Fuck," I murmured inelegantly.

"Steph insisted on being first through the door, and she found the omega with multiple stab wounds and the kitchen knife left in her abdomen. Bobby wasn't there but everyone has some first aid training. Steph gave her CPR until the ambulance arrived, insisted on riding in with her, but the woman and the baby were both DOA at the hospital."

Jane whimpered and I looked over seeing her and Darcy clinging together looking rather pale.

"She left before anyone could get to the hospital- apparently she already knows one of the nurses, who put her in a cab at least, but I think she should be there soon. I'm actually a little surprised if she isn't already."

Steve and I were already in the elevator before he finished talking, with JARVIS carrying the audio with us.

JARVIS spoke then, "I have picked up Stephanie's phone's location. She is two blocks out, but getting farther away."

Before he'd even finished, a Tower alarm started going off. The elevator reversed direction, stopping back on the common floor long enough to let the rest of the team in before continuing to the command room floor with the Quinjet. Everyone was silent as we stepped out, immediately pulling on uniforms and ready for battle by the time the elevator returned with Maria Hill. She used hand gestures to throw a map from her tablet onto the wall, and what we saw had all the blood in my body boiling in rage. I could smell it on Steve- his normal scent was tinged with the coppery scent of blood in a way I'd rarely smelled it before.

"Anicetus," he muttered.

"We have to assume they're drugging her again and we're on a very short clock," Natasha said quickly even as she watched the map carefully. As soon as it stopped moving, she called, "let's move. I think I know how to get in!"

We were in the jet, with Clint piloting and Natasha murmuring instructions less than a minute later. I looked over at Steve before looking at the rest of the team. Sam met my eyes, and cautiously said, "Steve, maybe you should wait in the jet."

When Steve only managed a fierce growl in response, I forced out a false laugh. "He didn't get enough sleep last night, Steph was just starting to scent preheat this morning but it shouldn't have been for another day or two so he was already starting to have an alpha hormone spike of his own, and now she's in trouble. He's not staying in the jet, and we should expect that things might get a little… adult… if we find her uninjured but in the state we think we will."

"Hill," Tony called.

"Yeah, boss, sending the truck."

I looked at him and he just said, "I developed a reinforced scent-insulated truck for such situations. We'll get the truck as close to them as we can, and when you're able, you get them into the back of the truck. Then we'll drive the truck back to the Tower, and they can stay in it until you can get them to move upstairs." That all sounded reasonable, until he muttered, "Then I'll burn it."

Frankly I didn't care whether or not he was joking- either way, that was a way better option than having to hole up wherever we found Steph for hours, trying to keep it secure and give Steph and Steve some modicum of privacy. Plus, we knew little enough about the drug Hebe, that it would probably be best to treat the area like a biohazard. After all, it had stayed in Steph's system for a prolonged period of time last time. We arrived at our destination with the sound of the Quinjet blasting a hole into the side of a building. Steve quickly stood, hit the button to open the back of the jet without warning and jumped out.

As I followed suit, I could hear Sam gliding out behind me calling over our radios, "we're going to have that talk about parachutes again later!"

"No time!" Steve called, already on the ground running. I took off after him, and as we reached an elevator shaft, blasted open by the jet, I could hear the roar of Hulk behind us. Without pausing, Hulk ran up, picked Steve and I up, and jumped down the shaft. When we hit the ground, he set us down before ripping through the steel doors. Then, much to my surprise, he waited. In that moment it seemed that, as reluctant as Bruce had been, the time spent taking the Hulk on training missions was definitely paying off.

Steve jumped into the hallway and started taking out the people that fired at us even as he was continually scenting the air. The scenting between alpha and omega and the draw of their bond were both stronger between each other than between either one and me, the beta. I didn't really understand how much until it took a solid five minutes of following Steve as we moved together, steadily laying waste to the men sent to stop us at a breakneck pace, before I also could even begin to smell Steph.

Finally we made it to the room holding Steph. It appeared to be reinforced in some way. Steve was trying to use his shield to break open the door, and I was trying to see if I could get my metal arm through the wall when Hulk just shoved us both aside. He took a few steps back, then smashed his body through the wall. A few soldiers, including one that smelled like doped up alpha came flying out of the hole accompanied by an angry roar. Seconds later, Hulk came back out, shoved Steve and I in, and stood with his back to us, using his body to block the hole in the wall.

I said a quick prayer of thanks when I saw that, although covered in blood that was most likely from earlier in the day that didn't appear to be hers and chained to a table, Steph was fully clothed and seemed to be relatively unharmed. The few injuries I saw on her matched those that Ranger had spoken of from earlier, but I could smell the scent of the artificially induced heat mixed in with her natural smell. When she looked over and saw Steve and I, she let out a sound that somehow managed to sound relieved and desperate. I gave a quick status update to the team over our radios before asking JARVIS to switch Steve and I to a private channel until I signaled again or until the truck was here, whichever came first. Then I set about releasing Steph from her shackles and making sure Steve didn't hurt Steph in their initial reunion.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: **Shout out to racecz5, I hope you enjoy Eden's role in this chapter. :-D

* * *

**Chapter 21**

_**Steve's POV**_

When I awoke, I was in a very small room that was drowning in the scents of Steph, Bucky, and I all swirled deliciously together. Lifting my head, I caught Bucky's eyes where he was sitting on a small bench across from the bed that Steph and I were laying on. I was flat on my back and Steph was sprawled out directly on top of me. Bucky raised his brow and said, "that actually you this time, Steve?"

"Yeah," I croaked out. Bucky wordlessly tossed me a water bottle, which I caught and sat up taking Steph with me so I could drink it all down in one go. "Where are we?"

Steph started stirring against me at the sound of my voice but didn't fully wake even as Bucky responded, "you were out of it even before we made it there on the jet. There was no way you weren't going to mate Steph when we found her as long as she was uninjured, so Tony had Hill send us this 'truck' that was apparently furnished with this or a similar incident in mind. Once I was able to convince you to move, which was a full _day_ after we found Steph, by the way, we got into this. It is fully scent insulated. They moved us back to the Tower, cordoned off an entire floor of the parking garage, and have been taking shifts with Rangeman to provide suitable security around the perimeter since we got here."

"How long has that been?" I asked, expecting an answer in the hours.

"Six days."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, that was a hell of a rut, Punk. I think Guinness would give you a world record if they ever found out."

"That's, uh. No. Let's never tell anyone about that, okay?" Although, the fact that I'd been rutting for so long explained the fact that when I leaned down to sniff her, Steph didn't seem to be in heat anymore. Remembering how long she'd slept after the last heat, and feeling awful for Bucky who had to have been in his right mind for the better part of a week in this small room, I said, "don't suppose we have anything approaching clothes in here?"

"Natasha gave us some on the restock. This place wasn't equipped for such a long occupation, but at least it had a small washroom."

I managed to avoid flushing too much in embarrassment over the fact that the entire team had needed to help take care of us for a week as I nodded to show that I understood. "I'm-"

"If the next word out of your mouth is 'sorry', I'm going to kick your ass. It's not your fault, and it's not Steph's fault. She's said before that her regular heats aren't this long, it's just those idiots fucking with her. It seems this time whatever that was probably had some sort of effect on you as well, above and beyond your reaction to having her taken from you preheat. And you know Steph's going to feel guilty about it as soon as she wakes up and remembers what happened, so why don't you just shove your guilt so you can help her with hers."

"How long have you been preparing that speech for?" I asked with a smile.

"About four days," Bucky responded. "When you two didn't have me otherwise occupied."

"Poor Bucky," I retorted in a tone that let him know I was onto him and knew he'd have thoroughly enjoyed himself once he knew we were safe.

"It was a difficult sacrifice, but I was happy to help," he said. Knowing Bucky and his fear of being locked up again, I studied his eyes carefully. Apparently he understood what I was looking for because he explained, "it's fine; I did take a couple walks when I was sure you were really out of it. Made sure the perimeter was secure, and just reminded myself it was voluntary. I'm completely fine, Steve."

Doing a little self evaluation, I realized that I felt surprisingly rested given the circumstances, and although I was hungry, I wasn't starving which meant Bucky was able to get me to eat. "Steph eat too?" I asked more than a little worried as she'd really only done so last heat at my insistence, and as I couldn't yet remember, I was guessing that I may not have been in the right mind to ensure she did.

"Yep," Bucky replied. "Didn't even put up too much of a fight over it this time, and you did make sure of it, Punk. Even in that state, you take care of our girl. And me, so don't even start thinking your favoriting or something. Plus, she should be both of our primary concern in heat anyway."

"Thanks, Buck," I said, allowing the relief to shine through my voice. "Alright, let's see about getting us out of here."

When Bucky stood, I watched as he quickly pulled some pants on over the boxers he was wearing, followed by a shirt. Then he moved to grab a set of my clothes and hand them to me. I carefully attempted to move Steph to the side, and she just clung to me even harder.

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck before he explained, "yeah, she's been a little extra… needy… the last couple days. Let's see if she'll let me take her or not." It took a decent amount of coaxing, but Bucky eventually managed to slide Steph off of me and onto himself. I stood and quickly dressed before staring assessingly at Steph with my hands resolutely on my hips.

"Are you planning right now, Captain America?" Bucky teased.

"Yes," I said distractedly. "We've got to get her dressed so we can get her upstairs and I can take care of you both. I can't even tell you how much my alpha instincts are screaming at me for not having done so the past several days."

"Steve, seriously, it's not your fault. It's those damn people who have insisted on playing gods and decided, for no apparent reason, that Steph is their favorite new lab rat." I growled, flashing teeth, and Bucky continued, "between you, Hulk, and those damn cyanide pill implants, there aren't any left. Bruce and Tony have inspected the labs, and Clint and Natasha are on the intel with Hill and her staff. And Steph and I both know you would have taken care of us if you were able, Steve. You have to give yourself a break, please? Now, what's your plan? Let's get Steph upstairs, you can give her a bath, comb her hair, whatever you need to do. Though, like I said, you _did_ take care of us."

While Bucky talked, I sorted through the clothes that had been brought for Steph and started with the easy pieces. Putting on some warm, fuzzy socks and sliding some underwear up her legs as I responded, "well, I don't remember taking care of you, so that doesn't help set my mind at ease." When I Bucky shifted his hold on Steph to let me finish pulling them up her hips and her hair swung out of the way, I froze. Climbing onto the bed for closer inspection, I said, "when the hell did she get this?"

I could hear the laughter in Bucky's voice as he said, "I was wondering when you'd rediscover that; our sweet little omega got herself a tattoo. I texted Darcy a little while after we saw it the first time to ask. Apparently the first night we were gone, she, Pepper, and Jane took Steph out after work with a full guard. They got drunk, and Steph started insisting on finding a tattoo parlor that was open late. Seems she's been carrying around a sketch of that since _someone_ gave it to her. It's been with her every day, right alongside her driver's license and permit to carry concealed. Darcy knows a guy, because of course she does, she's Darcy. So Steph got that. Looks like it healed up nice and quick, doesn't it?"

Shoving back all of my alpha responses to seeing the symbol I'd made for the three of us permanently inked into her skin, I pressed a kiss to the spot, hoping it wouldn't fade. Then I stood and, together with Bucky, managed to get Steph clothed. True, we could have just wrapped her in a blanket, but to me it seemed important that she leave here with her modesty completely intact after what those people had tried to do to her. Just thinking about it made me angry again, so I took a few calming breaths before taking her back out of Bucky's hold and opening the doors.

Jumping down with Steph in my arms, I took a few moments to look at the rig Tony had made. It was basically a large moving truck, with the retrofitted back made into a small but comfortable heat room. As much as I wished such a thing wasn't something that had even crossed the omega's mind that might be needed on a mission, I was glad now for his forethought. Hopefully we wouldn't need it again. Bucky was a while longer, gathering our personal effects, and I just stood there murmuring softly to the omega in my arms. She'd stir a little from time to time, making me think she was about to wake up, but then she'd press her face more into my neck and fall back asleep.

I was grateful for whoever was on guard duty just giving us space, and not crowding in because I didn't think I could handle that at the moment. When Bucky finally stepped out, he looked at me cradling Steph and gave me a soft smile. Walking over to us, he slid an arm around my waist and lightly rested his head on the shoulder Steph was pressed into as we walked. The elevator door opened to us as we approached, and once we stepped inside, I said, "thank you, JARVIS."

"It's no problem, Captain," JARVIS replied. "Your presence has been requested in the laboratories at your convenience sometime tomorrow or the next day. It isn't urgent, but there is some information that Dr. Banner would like to address."

I nodded my head, knowing JARVIS would pick up the motion and recognize it as an acknowledgement without me having to say anything. He would also use that as an indicator that we weren't eager for more discussion or interruption at this time, and likely inform anyone inquiring about us of that fact. It may have been selfish since Steph was no longer in heat, but I wanted my family to myself for just a while longer.

Apparently Bucky picked up on my mood because he stayed unusually quiet as we rode upstairs, not saying anything until we were back inside the apartment and were greeted by silence. He frowned, matching my own expression, and walked a little further into the apartment. Bending down in the spot where Eden's food and water bowl should have been, he picked up a scrap of paper.

"Tony was refusing to sleep, so Darcy borrowed Eden," he explained. "When Clint found out, he insisted on getting a turn. It seems our puppy has been rotating around making sure our teammates sleep. According to this note with a rough schedule, she should be back with Tony today."

"I..." I trailed off, thinking before just saying, "I'm not really sure what to do with that information at the moment. At least we know she wasn't bored though."

"S'good," Steph slurred out, in what I'd come to recognize as her not-actually-awake voice. "bored puppies eat things they shouldn't and all."

I was stopped from responding by having to shift and carefully balance Steph as she started stretching. When she settled, I said, "you could have asked me to put you down, you know."

In response, Steph just snuggled back in and said, "you weren't going to drop me."

I gave a startled laugh before assessing my options. Steph seemed a bit more alert and awake than I was expecting, so I took her into the living room, indicated for Bucky to lay down first, then gently set Steph down with him. Reaching over to the back of the couch, I dragged off the blanket that we kept there and settled it over the two of them, tucking it around them. At the action, Steph looked a little confused, but Bucky just looked amused and indulgent.

Running my hand over each of their cheeks one more time, I smiled and wandered toward the kitchen, whistling to myself softly. As I set about taking stock of what I had to work with in the pantry and fridge, I listened as Bucky softly explained my need to take care of my omega and beta to Steph. My heart broke a little that Steph had never had anyone do this for her before, and it just redoubled my resolve to make her feel how much I treasured and loved her.

Working quickly, I threw together some smoothies, asked JARVIS to order us some real food, and put some cookie dough from the freezer into the oven in the meantime to hold us over until the food arrived. After all, Steph talked about that being one of the things that she could make, and I knew she would enjoy them even if I hadn't made the dough from scratch. Baking wasn't really my thing, so these were pretty much guaranteed to turn out right.

When I was walking back toward them, I heard Steph exclaim over how much time she'd lost followed by Bucky's gentle soothing. Taking notice of me and my tray full of smoothies, Bucky sat up and helped Steph prop herself up as well. As soon as she turned to me, I noticed the distress and guilt in Steph's eyes so I set the tray down and pulled her up into my arms for a deep kiss.

"It's not your fault," I said. "And, hey, there are worse ways to spend a week than locked in a room with the two of you!"

"But," Steph said.

"Nope. Not your fault," I tapped her on the nose, then set her back down and handed her the smallest of the smoothies as she wasn't really a fan and consumed less than us anyway. "If you drink all of that, you can have as many cookies as you want between now and dinner."

"What's for dinner?"

"Well, I thought maybe some hearty comfort food would be in order, so I had JARVIS order a bunch of options from that mac and cheese place you like so much."

Steph let out a broad smile and her eyes lit up, which caused Bucky to smile at me with approval as well. More importantly, she downed the glass of smoothie, and I could relax knowing at least she'd get a least some nutrients in her before the night took a decidedly junk food turn. After that we had JARVIS turn on the TV, with Steph insisting on watching cartoons, insisting that we all needed something light and mindless.

Dinner was followed by a bath in our oversized jacuzzi tub that Steph loved so much. She and Bucky both chuckled as they let me clean them up, and I appreciated them humoring me. By the time I'd combed out and dried Steph's hair for her, I was feeling much more comfortable in my own skin again. Enough so that I surprised myself by actually managing to sleep again that night.

Unfortunately, it was a night of sleep once again cut short by nightmares. This time, they belonged to Steph. As soon as she started thrashing, Bucky and I both woke up completely ready for battle. I rolled off the bed, grabbing my shield as I did so, and Bucky reached over and grabbed a knife from somewhere I didn't realize he had one strapped. We scanned the room, and only once Steph started whimpering again did I realize why we'd awoken.

"I don't wake up like that when you have a nightmare," I whispered to Bucky.

"You used to, remember? Until you got used to it. Plus, she's an omega and she isn't your partner in the field. Makes sense that you'd react differently subconsciously. I can take care of myself better than she can."

Setting my shield back on the ground, I nodded. Then I slowly crawled on the bed, trying to flood her with soothing alpha scents when she started panicking at the shifting mattress. Realizing I wasn't going to calm her back into sleep, I called for JARVIS to turn on the lights and gently shook Steph awake.

Once her eyes opened, I said, "Steph, it's me, Steve and Bucky's here too. Do you know where you are?"

With a sigh that would be melodramatic in another context, she flopped back onto the bed and put her hands on her face. "I'm in the Tower. Ugh, that felt so real. Did I wake you up?"

"Don't worry about it, neither of us really needed that much sleep; since it's almost dawn anyway, we must have gotten at least 5 hours. Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"Want to talk about it?" Bucky asked softly.

"Not right now, no. It's still just right there and I'd rather go into Denial Land and shove it out of my brain. JARVIS," Steph paused waiting for the ping that JARVIS was listening. "What time is it?"

"It is five o'clock in the morning," JARVIS replied. "I have started your coffee."

Pulling herself out of bed, Steph said, "you guys can go back to sleep if you want." Bucky laughed wryly, and I just shrugged. "Are they going to give us our dog back anytime soon?"

The words had no sooner left her mouth than JARVIS pinged again, "Sir is requesting access to your apartment since you are awake. He has Eden with him."

"That's fine, JARVIS," I responded, more than a little surprised that anyone else was up. "I think we're open for visitors today."

"Your dog peed in my suit!" Tony was yelling as soon as the door opened only to be greeted by silence. "What are you doing up so early, Steph? JARVIS said that there was someone up so I thought I'd bring your dog back. You're welcome, by the way, for watching her while you all were doing the nasty for a week. A week, Steph. With two super soldiers, are you sure you're not some sort of goddess yourself?"

Steph cleared her throat and said, "thank you for watching our dog. Why was she in your armor?"

"I was trying to win the Internet."

Steph wandered into the kitchen with Eden on her heels, and I could hear the box of dog treats opening, impressed that the dog was getting some before Steph got her coffee. When Steph and the puppy came back in, I knelt down to greet Eden even as I said, "I think we're going to need a little more explanation than that."

"I was repairing the damage from the last mission to my armor, you know, getting it back up to battle ready."

"Making sure it's nice and shiny and red," Bucky said. "So you'll look pretty in pictures."

"Anyway," Tony said pointedly, "Eden was keeping me company in my lab. Don't look at me like that, we have a system worked out, JARVIS and I. We make sure she's safe. Anyway, she was sleeping there all adorably, and I thought, what if I made her armor. How cute would that be? So then while it was fabricating."

"Excuse me," Steph cut in. "You made armor. For a puppy."

"Yes, why is that so crazy? What if there's an attack. We need to keep her safe, and it is just protective armor anyway, obviously. I've made armor for Pepper, Jane, Darcy, you, and then there's just the one size fits most armor."

Steph looked about ready to argue, and I figured she had a point, but one thing at a time is often best. With that in mind, I cut her off saying instead to Tony, "that doesn't explain how she peed in your armor."

"Well, it takes a while to fabricate armor, though I really do have it down to an impressively short amount of time. Even with the modifications to the process considering that it is so small-"

"Tony!" Bucky cried out in exasperation. I for one was glad for Tony's sake that Steph had been able to get coffee already otherwise this would have gotten a lot uglier. "We don't care how long it takes you to make your damn armor."

"Alright, chill out Robocop! So, while I was waiting for Eden's armor to be made, I decided to put Eden in my armor and take some pictures, post them on the internet, and you know, win the Internet."

"How long had it been since you'd taken Eden to do her business before you put her in your armor?" Steph asked.

"I'm not exactly sure," Tony hedged.

JARVIS remained generally omnipresent when Tony was around, so he offered up, "approximately five hours."

"Tony! She's too little for that; she's not even a full three months old yet! No wonder she peed in your suit!" Stephanie cried out just as the door to our apartment swung open to admit Sam, Clint, Natasha and Bruce. Obviously having heard what Steph said, Clint and Sam both started laughing hysterically. Natasha's lips twitched in amusement, and Bruce just had a resigned look on his face.

Natasha leaned down to greet Eden, and I was fairly certain I heard her whisper, "aren't you a clever girl?"

"What are you all doing here so early?" I asked.

"We met up in the elevator," Sam offered his explanation first. "I was feeling like getting my ass kicked on a run this morning, and JARVIS said you were awake. I figured I'd see if I could catch you before I left, which given the state of undress here, I'm guessing I have succeeded in that, and also that you may not have been planning to go for a run this morning."

I winced only then realizing that Bucky and I were each shirtless, and Steph seemed to only be wearing a shirt. Although I knew I was blushing, both Steph and Bucky just looked down at themselves and shrugged, so I took a couple deep breaths. Then I walked back to our bedrooms and got more clothes for everyone after pulling a shirt on myself. When I walked back out, Tony was just finished explaining, again, why Eden had been in his suit.

"So, can I see the pictures?" Steph asked, and when JARVIS put the pictures up, she let out a delighted laugh. There was a picture of Eden lying on the ground, with the armor's helmet opened up and set over her such that her head was sticking out of it. Then there was a second picture of Eden in the body of the armor, obviously propped up somehow, with her head peeking out of the helmet again. I couldn't help but chuckle myself as the dog did look absurdly adorable.

"See, cute, isn't it?!" Tony asked, before exclaiming, "and I made her instantly even more internet famous than the picture of the three of you walking her back from the store. Or playing in the park. And the little traitor pays me back by _peeing_ in _my_ _suit_!"

"Why wouldn't that be the first thing you'd think of?" Bruce asked. "Take the dog out first to make sure it doesn't have to go to the bathroom. I would think that was obvious."

"Fine!" Tony said. "I can see I'm not going to get any sympathy here. Maybe I'll just go find Pepper; she'll be nice to me!"

"You think Pepper is going to take pity on you neglecting the dog you fought to get to take care of, shoving it in armor, and then having it pee in there for lack of a better option and probably at least a little out of fear?" Natasha asked, amusement clear in her voice.

Tony's jaw worked wordlessly for a few comical seconds before he said, "actually, how about we don't tell Pepper about this?"

"That's what I thought," Nat replied smoothly. "Clint and I were just coming to get Eden from Tony and take her for a morning walk since I wasn't sure that you were fully recovered yet."

"And I was just looking for Tony to go over some ideas I had," Bruce said, and I had a feeling he was being purposely vague at the moment.

"Why are you up so early, Steph? Isn't this the 'middle of the night'?" Clint asked, using air quotes to make his point.

"I couldn't sleep," Steph said bluntly but not unkindly.

When the rest of the team looked between Bucky and I surprised, I mouthed the word "nightmare" from behind her watching the understanding hit everyone's face.

Looking around at everyone and realizing she was found out, Steph shrugged. "It wasn't the first, and it won't be the last. I don't know that I have a run in me this morning, but that walk sounds good. I'm pretty sure that I haven't seen sunlight in a week, so I'm sure I could use some of whichever vitamin it is you get from the sun."

"That would be vitamin D, Steph," Bruce supplied. "But the sun isn't out yet."

"Well, by the time we all get dressed, including whatever weapons everyone deems appropriate, and it'll be closer to being light out. And we'll be out for a while, I'm guessing. You should join us, keep me company while they do the running that I'm sure will happen at some point. We can try some of that meditation I promised you I'd try."

"That sounds nice, Steph," Bruce responded with a smile.

While I'd had tense moments in the past viewing Bruce as a threat, I no longer felt that way. Our bond was comfortable and stable, and I was pleased to see that Steph was making a point to become friends with him. Bruce was often the most quiet of the Avengers family, and the most difficult to get to know as he wouldn't often make overtures of friendship on his own.

"I wonder if Darcy is awake and wants to join us," Steph mused.

"She is… indisposed for a few days," Natasha said sagely.

"Oh, we'll have to make sure Jane eats then," Steph said.

"Not a problem," Natasha assured her. "Thor's taking care of Jane. She and Darcy are synced up."

"Oh," Steph said. Then she asked, "hey what would have happened if you all had needed to assemble when we were in the truck?"

Bruce cleared his throat before responding, "we've developed some super-soldier strength suppressants over the years, and we have some regular ones on hand. We would have dosed you all."

"Well, that would have sucked," Steph said. "But when you gotta save the world, you gotta save the world. So I'm glad to know you have a plan for that!"

Steph had her phone out and was flipping through email while she was talking, and I truthfully wasn't all that surprised when she set it back on its charger on the counter next to her before saying, "okay, whoever wants to go, let's meet back up in ten and get this show on the road. I hate to say this, but I'm going to need to head into the office for at least a couple hours today."

As everyone else dispersed and Steph, Bucky, and I headed back to the bedroom, I rubbed Steph's shoulders. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just got some stuff to catch up on- paperwork including some incident reports and minor injuries to reschedule shifts around. And it seems Ranger is also going to be out of pocket for a couple of days, so Tank's going to be pulling double duty if I don't go in. I know you probably want another day of post-heat comfort as much as I do, and I'll try to keep it short."

"Steph, it's fine. Why don't you wear your uniform to the park and ask someone to pick you up there for the day? Bucky and I will come back, do a little training, clean up, then drive over to Rangeman and we can sort through our own paperwork from there until you're ready to leave? Then depending on the time, we can have a date night on our way back to the Tower or something?"

I could tell Steph was barely containing laughter as she said smartly, "sounds like a plan, Cap!"

"What is it with everyone and making fun of me for planning?" I asked in frustration.

Somehow, perfectly in sync, Steph and Bucky just started singing.

"_Who will redeem, head the call for America,_

_Who'll rise or fall, give his all for America,_

_Who's here to prove that we can?_

_The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!"_

"You know, some days I wish the two of you had never met," I groaned out.

"Come on, Punk. You don't mean that," Bucky said with a laugh.

"No, I don't," I responded. "But can we leave that damn bonds tour out of it? I hated pretty much everything about that."

"Everything but those pretty omega and beta girls, I bet," Steph teased with a grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, but the look on both their faces told me they knew I wasn't telling the truth.

* * *

**A/N: **So how's everyone feeling? Still liking it and wanting it to go on for longer, or would you rather this wrap up quickly so we can move onto the next story? Curious author wants to know...


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

_**Steve's POV**_

Our walk at the park with Steph was nice, and by the end of it, it seemed that getting some fresh air and moving had done wonders for her. By the time Tank was picking her up, she looked so much like herself again, and I felt much better knowing that she was going into the office healthy. I could tell that Bucky felt the same way, as he seemed much lighter while walking Eden back to the Tower than he had been when we were leaving it.

Of course, he generally was much more relaxed walking around outside when it was just he and I to take care of. When Steph was around we both were constantly looking for threats and figuring out what the best path would be to evacuate Steph should the need arise. I knew Steph was going to have words with Tony at some point about him having built protective armor for her, but while I understood her point, I was glad that if the Tower was taking heavy fire, she could be in one of those suits. My own conversation with Tony would simply be creating an expectation of how and when it would be triggered.

Bucky and I were mostly silent on our way back to the Tower, and when we made it to our apartment, Eden immediately ran over to one of her dog beds and curled up to go to sleep. Taking in the sight, I said to Bucky, "I guess terrorizing Tony and then entertaining a bunch of people in the park is hard work!"

"Looks that way. Fun though," Bucky added.

After a few minutes to drink some water and have a snack, we decided to head down to the gym for a workout. By the time we made it into the ring to spar, we had circled back around to what was our favorite conversation topic these days, Steph.

"She seemed alert and completely out of her funk after the park," I said.

"Agreed."

"I was really hoping she wouldn't go back into the office until next week though, and I thought that was in her contract."

"Ranger had to take it out when he put her in charge of that part of Rangeman. She'll have to prove that she's fit to be in the field before she goes out again, but that's it. Plus when I mentioned that earlier, she said she was on her way home and no longer on the job, so she wasn't injured in the line. I mostly figure that's crap, especially since these Anicetus people are onto her because of a skip, but that was the argument she was going to use on Ranger or anyone else who tried to cause a fuss."

Come to think of it, I did remember reading that in the paperwork; I had just been being overly optimistic about having her to ourselves.

"I hate these chemical heats," I said instead of dwelling on the fact that she was in the office at the moment."

"Because you feel guilty for having fun during them? Because they mess with your own mind so much? Or because she can't get pregnant from them so each one is another month you have to wait?"

"All," I replied while ducking a hit from his metal arm.

"Which one the most? It's enjoying the heat, isn't it. You're worried you're taking advantage."

I managed to heave out a sigh, and Bucky just said, "that's what I thought. You're an idiot, that's why she made the whole show of the old school bonding contract."

"Old School, Buck? You've been hanging out with Darcy too much."

"Stop changing the subject; you ain't done nothin' wrong by Steph. And if you're so unsure, then just ask her about it. Why haven't you just asked her about it?"

"I guess I just worry about the fact that I'm her alpha, and that, with the way she was raised, she wouldn't be honest about that. That she'd figure since we're bonded she doesn't have a choice in that during her heats anyway."

"You've met Steph, right?"

I let out a startled laugh and said, "of course I have, Buck."

"Then you know she's gonna tell you what's on her mind, not hide things like that from you. I still think you can talk to her directly about it, but if it makes you feel better, then know I already did."

It did make me feel better, and I chose to take Bucky at his word on the matter. As the beta, he'd probably always be doing the dance between the two of us, something I'd need to make sure he always knew I appreciated. For the time being, I did so by dropping that particular subject line for the moment. Instead I chose to throw out there, "pregnancy thing sucks too, but at least it gives her a little more time to settle in here and with the new position at Rangeman first."

"Yeah, I know, we're all disappointed at that one, Steve."

"I just wish I could find some way to lock the three of us in a room together as soon as she started to head into heat this time!"

"We weren't kidding when we told you that they're all dead, Steve. It might be that there was a secondary site, but we haven't found any information to suggest that. And no doubt there is some of the drug still out there, and possibly even some people who weren't home when we came calling, but they'll be few and far between. I really think that threat to Steph is over, and if _I'm_ saying that…"

Bucky was notoriously paranoid, so if he was certain the threat from this group was over for Steph, at least for the time being, than we probably really did have a reprieve.

As we moved onto the next stage of sparring training- the stage with ever so slightly dulled knives for Bucky and my shield for me, we planned out a training opp in the woods for the team and Rangeman in between moves and during breaks. When we finally finished for the day, I turned back to the entrance of the gym, surprised to see Natasha and Clint there. A quick glance at Bucky, however, made it clear to me that he'd been aware of their presence the whole time.

"I'm so using the tape of that for training one day when we finally have people to train," Natasha said with a serene half smile.

I just shrugged and chuckled to myself when Bucky did the same thing simultaneously and Clint rolled his eyes in response. After making sure neither teammate needed anything, Bucky and I climbed into the elevator to go back to our apartment. We'd managed to kill a few hours in the gym, so I was hoping Steph would be back soon. Stepping off the elevator, I thought I smelled something slightly off, so I wasn't overly surprised when we opened our apartment door to find Tank on the other side.

Bucky froze at seeing the other man in our apartment in full Rangeman uniform, but before Tank could say anything or reassure us that Steph was okay, I heard her voice calling out to Tank from the bedroom, "I'm going to want to see if the guys are free before we leave so I can give them a heads up about the distraction. I've mentioned them before in passing, but I don't think they're going to be thrilled about it, especially if I don't give them fair warning. Sorry this is taking so long, by the way, I don't keep many of these outfits around anymore!"

I groaned quietly as Tank responded then turned to me with a brow raised in silent question.

"That's going to be exactly what I think it is, isn't it?" I asked.

Bucky and Tank both nodded in response, and I sighed.

"That going to be a problem?" Tank asked challengingly.

"Nope, but she was having nightmares this morning, so something tells me she's going to be skittish as hell. Which means she's going to be more than a little distracted, so I'll go see if I can calm her down some," I replied leaving Bucky to keep Tank company with an instructive look.

When I reached the bedroom door, Steph didn't notice my presence, and I took the opportunity to just watch her as she moved around, sorting through clothes she'd thrown all over the bed. I always loved watching her, but there was something extra special about doing so when she didn't know I was there. Perhaps that was creepy, but she just had an extra layer of inhibition removed when she thought everyone was otherwise occupied. At that moment, for instance, she had JARVIS softly playing what I had quickly learned was Metallica, and she would occasionally emphasize a movement, such as tossing aside a rejected piece of clothing, to the beat of the music.

Finally deciding it was time to clue her in on my presence, I sang along to one of the lines. Steph laughed and turned to look at me in surprise. I just shrugged and said, "you like them, so I made a point to listen to them. Once I figure out what they are, lyrics are just as easy to remember as everything else."

Even though it really wasn't my favorite music, the look on Steph's face made me glad that I'd taken the time to become familiar with it. Walking forward, I collected a kiss, then pointed at the clothes. "Tell me what kind of person you're going after."

"Ronnie Wilkerson, beta wanted for failure to appear in court for his trial on charges of kidnapping."

"That's not actually what I meant. I mean… obviously you have reason to believe he'll be interested in a female omega, but do you know anything more about his tastes?"

After she'd listed off the types of things they'd been able to find on past relationships that Wilkerson had, I perused the options before making a selection and holding it up to her. Wilkerson didn't sound like he had too much appreciation for subtlety, so I picked something out that was anything but. When she saw the combination I had in my hands, Steph's eyes bugged out comically.

"You're okay with me doing this AND with me wearing that in public?"

"You can always wear whatever you want, and this is your job, so yes. I mean, I'll be nervous until you get home, but I pretty much always am. In some ways, this is less frightening than knowing that you're busting down the door of an arms dealer, so, there's that."

Steph seemed to think it over before nodding her head and realizing I was probably right. She looked back at the clothes I had and walked over to the closet to pick out shoes. While she was doing so, I asked JARVIS to see if Clint and Natasha wouldn't mind taking a break to help with something.

"How much time do you have?" I asked Steph.

"Three hours until the club we think he's going to tonight opens up."

"Okay well, hop in the shower, make sure you use one of our scent-blocking soaps that Bucky uses when he needs to be undetectable. You should find it in the bottom rightmost cabinet. While you do that, I'll work on the rest, so just come out in your robe when you're done."

"Scent-blocking?" Steph said sounding sad, which made me feel even more comfortable with her going out and doing this.

"Yes, Doll, it's probably best if you don't smell like a bonded omega. But I promise that Bucky and I will fix it _as soon as_ you get home, okay?"

Steph only seemed moderately appeased as she walked into the bathroom. Once she was out of sight, I gathered up the clothes and carried them out to the living room just as Natasha and Clint came in. I was a little disappointed to see Tony, Bruce, and Sam trailing, but figured we'd just have to go with it. I let Tank give the quick explanation, similar to the one that Steph had given me, and Natasha immediately spun around and left. Clint fired off a few more questions about the target's preferences before he too left.

Clint made it back first, carrying a bunch of beauty products.

"Wait, are you serious, Clint? How on earth did I not know about this?" Tony gaped.

"When you work at a circus, you learn to pick up any and every skill you can in order to make yourself more valuable. Once I had Tasha, I picked it back up again so that I could help her when she needed to fancy up for her missions. Steve, I'd like to temp dye her hair to make her less recognizable, can I please work with her in the guest bathroom when she's done?"

"Use our bath, just make sure she's ready before you walk in," I instructed before turning back to the group.

Bucky stepped over and picked up the dress and shoes, commenting only, "are you trying to drive us both insane while we wait for her?"

I shrugged and said, "sounds like the guy likes to be able to see as much of the goods as humanly possible before he'll choose someone. We want Steph the be the one he chooses, so it'll go better, and hopefully faster, if she puts herself on display a little. Otherwise he'll take some unsuspecting woman and either do goodness knows what with her after he leaves or get her caught in the crossfire when Steph and her guys try to make the capture, which would be bad."

"She can get whoever she wants without all this," Bucky argued.

"Sure she can, but no one is going to be willing to look away when she's dressed like that."

Bucky continued to grumble, but otherwise moved on to Tank and began going over exactly how Rangeman was going to keep Steph safe. When Natasha came back in with her arms full of gear, I looked between her and the dress dubiously. The dress itself was a sapphire blue very, very tiny number. The front of it would plunge down, almost to her belly button and the skirt then didn't cover much more than was legally necessary.

As far as the back was concerned, well, the straps went around her neck instead of down her back, and the back was going to be absolutely bare except for a pair of thin, jeweled chains that connected the neck to the middle of the sides to keep the dress in place given how little fabric there was. And her backside would be covered again, by the absolute bare minimum.

I watched curiously as Natasha picked up the dress then grabbed what appeared to be a sewing kit. She flipped the dress inside out and began strategically sewing patches of fabric to the inside, her fingers faster than lightning. It was Tony who stepped forward and asked, "is that… part of your uniform?"

"Yep, I need a new one. I ripped mine to pieces," she said.

"You know, you could have just asked. I have stockpiles of that material ready to make uniforms, but it is in sheets. You didn't have to destroy your uniform."

"This one's been in battle and gotten me through to the other side," was Natasha's only response.

Natasha had always been a tough nut to crack. She outwardly seemed cold, uncaring, and unfailingly practical, but statements like that showed her softer side. The side that, even if she wouldn't vocalize it, clearly believed in things like luck. Still, I didn't call her on it, just let my eyes wander over to Bucky, who was wearing a smirk on his face and nodded at me in acknowledgment.

"Shove it, Barnes," Natasha said before adding something extra under her breath in Russian that I didn't understand but made Bucky bark out a laugh.

Sounding resigned, Tony just said, "JARVIS, please prioritize making a new suit for Natasha."

"I have already started fabrication; the estimated time of completion is four hours," JARVIS intoned.

"Thanks!" Natasha hummed happily.

"JARVIS," Tony commanded again, "please have DUM-E bring up prototypes 26, 39, and 82 immediately."

Knowing Tony wouldn't tell me even if I asked, favoring the grand reveal with the prototypes available for demonstration, I turned my attention to Bucky and Tank.

"Tank, I assume you've already verified that Steph was field ready?"

"Of course, we would have done this another way if not. There's always a risk, but Little Girl has done dozens of distractions for us." He paused as though he had more to say but wasn't sure he should. I waited him out and finally he huffed out a breath and added, "this is the first time Ranger won't be there to provide backup for her though. If you want to come and stay in the van, I think it would make her more comfortable and less distracted."

"Both of those can keep her from getting killed," Natasha commented.

With a quick glance and Bucky who was nodding emphatically, I said, "we can do that. I'd like to have my shield with me. Is it going to cause a problem with you for Captain America and the Winter Soldier to be there if things go sideways?"

"No," Tank said slowly. "The public already knows generally who she is and what she does, so the company is loosely affiliated with you in that manner anyway."

"Okay, good. Then we'll happily provide backup, with Steph's agreement, tonight and any other time she asks for it, as long as we're not out of town on a mission."

"Does she wear different outfits every time she does this?" Natasha asked Tank.

"Uh, I think so. For the most part."

"Hmmm," Natasha replied pensively. "I'll have to talk to her about that; I'd like to settle on a handful of set looks that already have this or something similar sewn into them. Or better specially made for this. It'd be easier, wouldn't rely on me being around to do this for her, and be better if she was used to the outfits so there were no surprises if and when she has to fight in them. Now that I know she does this too, we should talk a little more about moves for her training, Bucky. I have some ideas."

"Me too," Bucky responded, "but I'd definitely appreciate talking to you about it. You have more practical experience with these types of outfits, after all."

"That implies that you have some practical experience with outfits like that," Sam said slowly.

Bucky only shrugged, and I watched in barely contained amusement as Sam clearly tried to process the idea in his head. A few minutes later, DUM-E rolled in carrying boxes that Tony grabbed and set aside, clearly indicating that he intended to do the big reveal once with the optimized audience. We only had to wait about ten minutes after the time in which I heard the hair dryer turn on before Steph came walking out.

While Natasha's hair was a brighter, vibrant red, Steph's hair had been transformed into a color closer to dark cherry wood. I preferred her with her natural brunette hair, but I had to admit, I found the red to be intriguing. On top of that, Clint had cut her hair into a different shape. The combination of the new cut and color would keep most people in the club from recognizing Steph, and hopefully allow us to avoid media scrutiny.

Steph looked taken aback when she saw Natasha working on her dress, but Natasha just quickly knotted the thread she was working with and flipped the dress back the right side out. To Steph she said, "it's not much, but I added some layers of fabric that should help deflect and absorb some trauma if you get hit with a knife or the like. Because I was working on the fly, you're vulnerable between where the patches fit together, but I made those as small as possible. It should help."

Pressing a kiss to Steph's ear, I whispered, "she used her own uniform for luck."

Clearly Steph already knew Natasha well enough not to comment on the sentimental part, simply nodding and whispering her thanks before taking the dress back to the bedroom to change. Bucky followed her, ostensibly to make sure she didn't need any help, but the dress didn't have any zippers, so I figured he had ulterior motives. A theory that was confirmed when he came back, and both had slightly swollen lips.

I could hardly blame Bucky for that though when I got a full look at Steph. In fact, it was all I could do to keep from grabbing her, throwing her over my shoulder, and carting her back into the bedroom to mark her and thickly layer my scent on every inch of her body to make sure nobody questioned our status. Instead, I just stayed calm as Clint stepped forward and fixed Steph's makeup.

When he was done, I pressed a kiss to her temple and whispered that she looked fantastic. Bruce returned seconds later having wandered away while we were waiting for Steph. He looked at Steph, Bucky, and I, and said, "say good luck and such now; I've got something for her, but it would be best if you avoided contact to mix your scent back in after. Scenting happens easily between bonded pairs and triads."

We did as he said, and then Bucky and I stepped back several paces, watching as Bruce stepped forward with what looked like a perfume bottle. Carefully, he sprayed Steph's neck and wrists, and when he was done, I took a sniff. She smelled like unbonded omega, and not one that I'd ever met. It was frustrating, but I knew it definitely would make things easier for her, so I shoved down those alpha instincts once more.

Once Bruce was done, Tony made a show of stepping forward and lining up boxes in front of Steph. As soon as he'd done so, he indicated for her to open them up. Inside was jewelry that was surprisingly not dripping in diamonds and precious gems. Instead it all seemed to be made of a silvery metal.

"These are very nice, Tony," Steph said slowly, "but I do have some jewelry of my own."

"This isn't any regular jewelry you can by in a store, Steph," Tony said clearly vamping now. "This bracelet has a small button right here. If you push this, then it'll electrify. The inside is shielded so you won't get zapped, but anyone you touch will be effectively tased. The necklace actually pulls apart in the middle and the bottom half has a dose of a powerful sedative in it. Poke someone with this needle, and they'll be down for the count."

Steph eyed both pieces appreciatively before turning to the earrings. When she picked them up, Tony stopped her quickly. She withdrew her hands asking, "are they poisonous?"

"No. Have you seen Mission: Impossible?"

"Yes."

"Remember the gum? Red light green light?"

Steph nodded, but I asked, "what?"

It was Steph who turned to me and explained, "he had a stick of regular looking gum. Half was red, and half was green. If he smushed them together, they made a bomb. I assume that if I take the earrings on and press them together, something similar will happen?"

Smiling, absolutely delighted that Steph had caught on so quickly, Tony said, "yes, that's correct. They'll click together, glow slightly, and you'll have three seconds from the lights turning on to throw it before it explodes."

"Oh God," Tank groaned, speaking for the first time in what had been at least twenty minutes, "now you're just flat out providing her with explosives?!"

"Well, I'd rather know the explosion was coming," Steph said reasonably, "than be surprised by it as I have been in the past."

Tank just kept muttering under his breath, but we continued on getting Steph ready. Natasha provided Steph with an alternate pair of silver shoes. that had knives built into the stilettos for her. Then she showed Steph a couple taser disks and explained how they worked. As she was doing so, I noticed Bucky's arm fidgeting, and remembered all too well how Natasha had thrown those and at least partially damaged the arm while fighting him before we'd managed to bring him back to his right mind.

Once it seemed like everyone was settled in, I calmly asked Steph, "would you like Bucky and I to sit in the surveillance van? We would be happy to provide you backup if it would make you any more comfortable." When she hesitated despite the initial relief I'd seen in her eyes, I took a guess and said, "I promise, neither of us will hold anything you say or do to get this guy to go with you against you. And I give you my word, we will stay in the car unless you are in immediate and serious danger. Your men can do the actual takedown; we are purely there as a last line of defense."

Steph carefully studied my face, and I made sure to leave my expression entirely open to her. Apparently satisfied, she turned and did the same to Bucky before she finally nodded.

"I would like that, thanks."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

_**Steph's POV**_

After all the effort everyone put into getting me ready, and their drop-everything attitudes, the distraction had gone off without a hitch. As much as I tried to tell them it wasn't necessary, the team continued to rally after the fact and come up with ideas and strategies to make future distractions easier starting before I even made it back to the Tower in the early hours of the morning. In particular, Tony worked on his prototype jewelry defense pieces and Natasha insisted on supplying me with my own knife shoes in a couple of different styles.

The day after the distraction was a Tuesday and I could tell that Steve and Bucky were up to something, particularly with the help of Tank and Ranger once he resurfaced Saturday afternoon, but no one would tell me a thing. So I went about my business, working regular hours during the week but adding in most of the day Saturday and Sunday morning to catch up on all the paperwork I'd missed. Having one heat every two months that lasted around three to four days was much easier than having more frequent heats that lasted much longer as far as work was concerned!

Of course, everyone insisted on keeping their secrets, so although I knew something was going on behind my back, I didn't know what. When I left the office on Sunday afternoon, at Bucky's coaxing a little earlier than planned, I was expecting to go home and spend a lazy rest of the day with my guys… probably in bed because we tended to have lots of fun there outside of heats too, pretty much whenever we could manage.

As I left the office, I realized that there were fewer Rangemen than I expected, though Sundays were generally slow days, so it wasn't too far out of the norm. No sooner had I stepped foot out of the elevator and into the garage than I heard an ever so faint thunking noise and felt a hand wrap over my mouth. Instantly, I started fighting, even as my assailants other hand came and wrapped around me, its grip unforgiving and steely. I felt a few moments of frustration and panic as it seemed like every move I made was anticipated and countered faster than I could even think to begin it.

When I finally managed to connect, however, I heard the woosh of my attacker's breath followed by an amused chuckle that I recognized. Upon further reflection, I recognized my attacker's scent as well. I stopped immediately, and when I tried to turn around, I was allowed. A mouth pressed harshly to mine, but I didn't fight it, allowing the kiss to go one for a few moments before I pulled back and socked him in the shoulder.

"Damn it, Bucky, what the _hell_?! That was so mean!"

"Pop quiz, Dollface," Bucky responded. "And you did very, very well. So well, in fact, that I think you deserve a reward. Want to have some fun?"

"Always," I said, taken aback when Bucky guided me back to the elevator. At his gesture, I swiped my card and watching him push the button for the roof. When the doors opened at our destination, I saw one of the team's jets sitting there, apparently empty. Walking into it, I let Bucky guide me to the co-pilot's seat and strap me in before he sat in the pilot's seat, did a bunch of things on the dashboards, then lifted off.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked. "And where is everyone else? Should we really be in here with just the two of us? I am in no way qualified to be a co-pilot of this."

"I'm the co-pilot, Steph," I got in response.

Looking around, I asked, "then who is the pilot?"

"I am in full control of the airplane, Stephanie," came the familiar voice of JARVIS.

I supposed if the AI was enough of a pilot to handle the Iron Man suit, he could handle a regular jet in non-combat situations. "And where are we going?"

"Into the woods," Bucky replied, and when I looked over at him, he was grinning like a school boy.

"Paintball?"

"Absolutely. We even came up with something a little more fair than just Avengers vs. Rangemen."

"Oh yeah? What are we doing? Mixing up the teams? Every man for himself."

"Tell you what, Doll. You can sit here and ask me questions, and I can give you the full explanation, which you'll have to listen to again when it gets explained to everyone else. Or you can unstrap yourself, come over here, and we can fill our time another way."

With a laugh, I reached down and unbuckled the seatbelt, quickly sliding over so I was straddling Bucky. For a moment, as I leaned in to kiss him, I saw a look of what seemed to be a mild confusion on his face. When I pulled back and asked him what was wrong, however, he just shook it off and said, "I don't know, I had a moment of thinking there was something slightly off, but I couldn't figure out what, and it's gone now. Let's get back to what we were doing."

He pulled me down with a gentle hand on the back of my head, and I slowly lost myself into the kiss, letting him pull me deeper and deeper. When I needed to take a breath, I pulled back and dragged my mouth sideways so I could whisper in his ear, "I love you, Bucky."

Bucky smiled, looked over at the various screens for a moment, and then pressed a quick kiss to my lips before setting me back on my seat. "I love you too, Steph; and you don't love me as much as you're about to. Which will make up for how pissed Steve is quite possibly going to be, but what the hell. He doesn't actually follow rules and plans as much as everyone seems to think he does."

"Okay…" I said, trailing off a little confused because Bucky wasn't making any sense. Still when he came over with some sort of harness and guided me into it, I allowed him to move me around and helped him strap me into it.

He tested all the straps and connections then, apparently satisfied, disappeared from my sight again. When he came back, he was going through the same routine with a set of straps of his own, but they had big clips on the front of them and were connected to a large pack on his back.

I felt my own eyes widen even as I said, "are you serious?"

Bucky let out his bad boy smile as he slid on a helmet with full face shield, "you always said you wanted to fly, right? JARVIS is perfectly capable of landing the plane safely on his own. Now get over here."

With equal parts excitement and fear, I walked over to him, accepting the helmet he handed me and slipping it on. As I did so, Bucky walked around behind me and started clipping himself onto me. Once he was done, he started helping me walk forward in our awkward position and then checked the buckles on each of our helmets.

Turning to him, I asked, "aren't you going to give me some sort of instructions?"

"Just breathe, Doll, and you'll be fine. Oh, and try to pay attention once we get going, you've got a heads-up display in your helmet and when we're five minutes out, Tony will start explaining the game we'll be playing. Our drop site has our supplies and you and I will start separate from the rest of the pack."

"Are we on the same team?"

"No, but I promise to give you a head start," Bucky said cockily.

"Five minutes?" I finally thought to ask.

"Yeah, a stretch of free fall then about 6 minutes to the ground."

"It's almost dark; are you sure this is safe?"

"Do you trust me, Steph?"

I turned my head so that he could see my face as I said, "of course I do."

"Then remember to breathe."

With those words, Bucky reached over and hit a button. The back of the jet opened up into a ramp, and he picked me up this time so my feet were off the ground and ran forward, jumping to launch us out into the air. I let out a small shriek before I started laughing. Bucky stuck his hands in front of my face to give me a thumbs up, which I happily returned to him. Way sooner than I wanted, he was moving my hands and pulling the cord to slow our descent.

As we started floating down at a more reasonable pace, I heard Steve's voice boom into my helmet. "Seriously, Bucky?" he asked.

"You said I was responsible for getting Steph here in time for the start of the game; you didn't say how. And you know she wanted to fly!"

"But it's _dangerous_!" Steve said.

"I'm pretty sure it's less dangerous for Steph to tandem dive recreationally with Bucky, who knows full well what he's doing, than it is for you to jump out of the jet into enemy territory without a parachute," Natasha replied calmly.

Steve didn't reply so Bucky said, "alright, Sam, you put Steph's and my supplies out like we agreed?"

"Of course I did, Bucky," came the instant response.

"Well then, somebody better get to explainin' the rules," Bucky said. "Because Steph and I are going to hit the ground running!"

"Oh, is that how it is?" Steve asked.

"Yep, that's how it is!" Bucky shot back.

Until the moment that Tony took over with instructions, I figured this would be straight paintball, and since Bucky said we weren't on the same team, and it wasn't Avengers vs. Rangeman, that it would just be a last man standing free for all. What Tony described was instead, more complicated than that.

Tony had provided everyone with helmets like Bucky and I were wearing that had basic JARVIS interfaces. As soon as Tony finished explaining everything, the displays would list a randomly generated target. Each of us was an assassin, and that target was the person we were hired to "eliminate". Successfully eliminate your target, and get one point. Then you would get the name of whoever their target was and move on to eliminating that person. The game ended when only one person was left standing, and the person with the most kills was the winner.

There were a few questions and after some debate, it was decided that shots to vitals only would count. Meaning, you had to hit someone in the head, chest, back, or stomach to eliminate them. Bucky and I had vests waiting for us when we landed that would match everyone else's and allow JARVIS to track these hits when combined with our helmets.

"Great," I muttered under my breath. "So now, instead of having a team, I'm playing hide and seek with a bunch of superheroes and former-military who will all be trying to kill me."

"Technically, Steph, only one person will be trying to kill you at a time," Clint offered. I hardly viewed it as any consolation, but I figured this whole thing was my idea and I could suck it up. Maybe whoever killed me would let me shadow them so I could pick up a few tips. Or maybe JARVIS could let me watch other people's views if we had cameras with us. I listened a little as others asked questions, trying to glean as much as I could from them in terms of what strategies they might try to use. As the questions went on and I could see the ground getting closer though, I focused back on the sensation of floating through the air.

"Hey, Steph, can you pick your feet up for me?" Bucky asked as we approached the ground. I did as he asked, getting in return a "Good girl, hold that."

Seconds later we were on the ground, with Bucky having easily caught us. He cut the line and quickly folded everything up, and set it aside. Then he walked over to me, pulled off my helmet and gave me one hell of a kiss that had me thinking, "paintball, shmaintball."

When he pulled back, he responded to an upset Steve I hadn't even registered talking over the comms as he set both of our helmets back on. "Of course she's fine, Punk. Steph, can you please say something to Steve so he knows you're okay?"

"Hey, Love. Calm down, Bucky took perfect care of me."

"Alright, cut the gross crap," Tank teased. "You two got your equipment and your targets?"

Bucky stood completely stopped with that baffled look on his face again for several seconds before he once again shook it off to walk over to the other side of the clearing, grab the smaller vest and strap me into it, quickly show me how to use the two paintball guns I'd been given, help me into my pack with extra ammo, give me one last kiss, then shove me on my way. I ran into the woods from the clearing next to the water, and just as I reached them turned back around, shocked to see that Bucky had already disappeared.

"Holy hell, I can't decide if that's scary or sexy." I murmured and thought I heard a soft chuckle from both Steve and Bucky in response. Then remembering the question Ranger had asked, I added, "yep, we're geared up and in the wind."

Ranger chuckled at my use of his expression before saying, "Okay, JARVIS, shut down the inter-player comms."

They'd covered this in the instructions, so I knew it was coming, but I still had a little bit of an internal panic at being cut off from the team. Of course, we were all still connected to JARVIS, and if there was an actual issue, he'd be monitoring and get help. And if I got lost, he was tracking me. But other than that, he wouldn't provide anyone with information on anyone else's location.

I'd seen the navigation gear in my pack, but in all honesty, I didn't know how to use it. And since JARVIS had my back and would keep me from wandering outside of our designated playground, I didn't even bother to pull it out. I knew I wasn't really going to manage to get the most kills; after all, I was playing with three actual assassins. So I mentally chose my own goal. Sure I had a name, Binkie, and I would certainly shoot him if I saw him, but my goal was to be last person standing. I wouldn't win the actual game, but it was an achievable goal.

Okay. Last non-Avenger standing.

To that end, I ran as fast as I could away from where I'd last seen Bucky standing and looked for a good place to hide. Eventually I found a spot I liked, and I ran well past it and hunkered down, listening. I waited a good twenty minutes until I was fairly certain that no one else was around before I started circling back to it through some thick brush trying to remain as quiet as possible while I did so, but hoping it would hide my footprints from trackers to some extent. Reaching my destination, a large boulder that was in those same bushes, I wiggled in. Then I waited.

For me, waiting was the hardest part. I hated stakeouts because they were boring and this was even more so. The agreed upon field may have been smaller than the whole plot of land available, but it was still a big area and people weren't walking by me all that often. I had the paintball rifle I was given out, and was alternating between just generally watching and zooming in on people through the scope.

After twenty minutes, Binkie finally wandered into my field of view, and although I'd only had a couple of sessions with rifles, I was quite pleased with myself when I managed to hit him dead in the chest. On the helmet's display I read, "Target elimination: confirmed. New target: Steve Rogers."

Well that was just dandy. It looked like I was going to have to satisfy myself with one kill because there was no way I was going to manage to take out Steve. Nor did I want to do so. All of the weapons were silenced, but they still made a telltale noise, so I kept perfectly still for the next ten minutes, hoping my shot hadn't given away my location. My stomach let out a growl, and I panicked, waiting to get shot. When that didn't happen, I slowly and carefully dug through my pack to find a nutrition bar biting into it with relief. Stomach satisfied a few moments later, I went back to my waiting.

Waiting, it turned out, hadn't gotten any easier while I'd been here. If anything, it was getting less comfortable and way more difficult. Flak vests were never comfortable, but I didn't understand why this one was so much worse than usual. I knew Tony had put extra sensors and such in it for the game, but I would have thought that Tony Stark of all people would be able to do so without making the damn thing heavier. As the minutes passed, it was hurting my boobs more and more.

Then not too long after I'd eaten the nutrition bar, my stomach started feeling… icky. I tried deep shallow breaths for several minutes, but they weren't doing anything. Looking around and hoping I wouldn't be discovered from the noise, I ripped my helmet off and vomited the whole thing up. Leaning my head on the discarded helmet, I allowed myself one soft groan.

I pulled a bottle of water out of my pack to rinse out my mouth. After that I just gave in and released the zipper on my vest. To hell with it, I could heal extra these days and a paintball wasn't going to kill me even if I couldn't. Unfortunately my hidey-hole now smelled like vomit, which wasn't doing anything to help my stomach calm down.

Slowly, I dragged myself out of my first hiding spot, pulling my pack behind me and not even really caring if I made any noise as I did so. I managed to find a new spot a few minutes later, equally covered by shrubs but nestled against a large tree instead of a boulder. The nausea was still present, so I closed my eyes for just a moment to try to make the nausea go away.

When I opened my eyes again, it was to the sound of the equally hushed voices of Steve and Bucky. They sounded like they were arguing, which was highly unusual.

"I swear, I didn't realize, Steve! I knew something was different, but I couldn't tell what. And she seemed fine! You know scenting isn't as strong or reliable with betas; I never would have taken her skydiving or left her alone in the woods if I'd known she was pregnant!"

That woke me up for good, "who's pregnant?" I slurred out.

"Oh my God, Steph, Doll, Honey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine! I was just feeling a little off so I closed my eyes for a minute, not a big deal."

I rubbed my eyes and finally opened them to see that Steve's jaw was doing that clenching thing it did when he was upset, but trying not to say anything.

"Seriously though, who is pregnant?"

"We think you are, Steph," Bucky said slowly.

"Wait? What? Really?! That explains why I again find myself a passenger of the Alpha Express, I suppose." I couldn't stop the grin the broke out on my face with excitement, "I thought I couldn't when the heat was brought on by the drugs?!"

Steve looked down and saw my face, and slowly I saw my own happiness reflected back to me in his eyes. His expression softened and he leaned down to give me a kiss but I turned my head at the last minute.

"What's wrong, Steph?" Bucky asked, sounding shocked that I'd turned down Steve's affections in such a life altering moment.

"Vomit breath," I muttered.

"Yeah, we found that spot," Steve said, choosing to pepper everything but my lips in kisses instead.

"At the same time we found your helmet- which was your only link to JARVIS- and your vest, which was tracking you," Bucky said darkly. "Good thing we know how to track from the war, so it didn't take us all that much longer to find you from there."

"I'm sorry you've been worried, but how long could you possibly have been looking?"

The look on Steve's face as he went sheet white had me wincing before he even answered, "we've been looking for two hours, ever since we decided to call it off because the three of us were the only ones left and we didn't want to shoot each other and figured you felt the same way. That's when JARVIS told us he'd lost contact with you and could no longer monitor your vitals as you weren't wearing your helmet or your vest."

"My phone?" I asked feeling horrible about how worried they must have been.

"You turned it off."

"Oh," I said lamely. "I'm really, really sorry. I wasn't feeling well at all, and I just wanted to rest my eyes."

We'd stepped into a clearing, and I watched as the varying Avengers and Rangemen slowly filtered in around us. I noticed the various alphas' eyes get larger as they got close enough to catch my scent, and took a moment to sniff myself. I really _did_ smell pregnant, I don't know how I didn't notice it before. I thought back to jumping out of the plane with Bucky and I couldn't stop myself from letting out a small whimper. I was pretty sure skydiving wasn't listed on the list of healthy things for a pregnant omega to do.

I pressed my nose into Steve's neck and sighed in relief at his smell, barely registering Bucky going over to Clint and Natasha and exchanging a few words. Clint reached into his own pack and pulled out something small that I couldn't really see, handing it off to Bucky before he and Natasha grabbed my discarded gear to free up Bucky's hands. When he reached Steve and I again, Bucky held something out to me, and I cautiously reached for it. Realizing it was gum, I shot him and Clint each a grateful smile before greedily shoving it in my mouth.

"Okay, someone say something because this quiet is freaking me out!" I cried out a couple minutes later.

After a couple more beats of silence it was Ranger who finally said, "are you hurt?"

"Nope, I'm perfectly dandy."

"Dandy? You've been hanging out with the old-timers too long," Tony teased. "Well, if we are all present and accounted for, let's get out of here and get Steph to Bruce for some testing!"

"Could just be the drug messing with my scents," I warned everyone slowly, not wanting to get anyone's hopes up but knowing by the looks in each and every person there's eyes that it was too late for that.

Not willing to let anyone other than Bucky close to me, Steve kept me in his firm, comforting grip as we walked to the first Quinjet with the team, Ranger, Tank, and Bobby following. The rest of the Merry Men walked to the second jet, and I gave them a little finger wave over Steve's shoulder.

"JARVIS is taking them home?" I asked, watching as Bucky nodded in confirmation.

As we climbed into the jet, Clint took the pilot's seat and Ranger settled himself into the co-pilot seat. Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if even though I'd known him all these years and had never previously seen the slightest hint of it, it turned out that Ranger had a pilot's license. Tank settled himself into the next furthest away seat from the back corner where Steve had sat with me in his lap, and Tony and Natasha, even though they were omegas, followed suit in giving us our distance.

Even without a seatbelt on, I could feel the strength of Steve's grasp holding me tight and keeping me safe. From the front, Clint called, "if you're not going to buckle up, at least brace yourself on something."

Steve wordlessly responded by letting go of me with one hand and using it to slide his arm through one unbuckled strap. If there was a problem, he'd be able to use that to anchor us without letting go of me. Figuring it would be more comfortable, I took advantage of my freedom to rotate around so I was straddling him, pressed front to front. I nuzzled my head into the space between his pectoral muscles that seemed to fit me just so. I tilted my face to the side so that I could stare at Bucky who was using a similar one armed approach to anchor himself into the seat next to Steve and lean into the shoulder next to me.

I smiled at him softly, and he returned it with a loving look I was sure no one else in the world would believe he was capable of. I darted a look across the plane and noticed that everyone else was making it a point to look everywhere but at us.

"The gum help your problem at all?" Bucky asked.

I laughed, but nodded my head against Steve's chest. As he was the one asking, I'd expected Bucky to move in for the kiss. Instead, he used his metal hand to provide extra support to my back and his flesh hand to tip my head up to Steve. I had just enough time to drag my own hand up and spit the gum out into it before Steve took ownership of my mouth.

In that moment, it felt almost like the last piece that I hadn't realized was missing slotted into place in me. I felt the warmth that always resonated in our bond hum down into my belly and I just knew how those blood tests were going to come back with utter and complete certainty. I could feel wetness on my cheeks when I pulled back that I was pretty sure wasn't entirely mine. Judging by the slight trail of tears I could see on Bucky's face as I immediately turned to him.

I clung to Steve hard as I lost myself next in Bucky's kiss, and when that one was done, I settled back into Steve and brought my hands from his back around to gently cup my belly in wonder. "I don't want to get my hopes up, but I'm certain it's real," I whispered.

"Maybe because you were already in preheat?" Bucky said reverently.

I kept my hands where they were but pressed myself into Steve more fully, listening with satisfaction as he seemed to practically purr in happiness.

"Where did Thor go?" I asked.

"He went to Asgard to see if Heimdall could help locate you," Steve's voice rumbled out with vibrations I could feel where we were pressed together.

"Oh, hell," I said.

Steve just flooded me with soothing scent a shushed me gently, "it's fine. Heimdall will tell him you've been located, and Thor was scheduled to go back for a short visit tonight anyway."

Ten minutes later, we landed on the Tower's landing pad and Steve, Bucky, and I immediately made our way down to Bruce's medical labs where Bruce was waiting for us patiently.

"Hi, Bruce. Sorry you had to get up so late; I appreciate it though. We'd really like to know tonight, if possible."

"It's no problem, Steph," Bruce responded gently. He walked over to where Steve had sat down on the bed with me in his lap and made quick work of drawing blood. "Tony made a bunch of improvements to all these machines when he bought him, and they're quite fast. We should have results almost inst-"

"Results are positive for pregnancy hormones," JARVIS interrupted. "Levels are consistent with a conception date at the beginning of the most recent heat incident."

I was so excited I couldn't keep my arms from shooting up to Steve's arm and squeezing on trying desperately to ground myself before I let the joy overwhelm me. "I thought we couldn't with the Hebe in my system?"

"Bucky said you were scenting preheat before you were taken. Maybe you'd progressed far enough by the end of the day into heat that it was unstoppable, and the drug just sped it up a little and prolonged it." Before we could ask, Bruce continued, "I'm still holding steady that there will be no ill-effects from the drug though, so don't worry on that. For tonight, I'll say congratulations. Let's talk tomorrow and we'll pick out a specialist to bring into the Tower and see you for checkups, okay?"

"Thanks, Bruce," we all said simultaneously, causing him to chuckle as he stepped out of the room and closed the door gently behind himself giving us privacy.

I was looking at my belly in wonder, unable to do anything else and thought I could maybe hear the sounds of Steve and Bucky kissing but it barely even registered. Finally Bucky laughed and said, "you okay there, Steph?"

Looking up, I darted my eyes between the two and said, "I'm fabulous! I just can't believe there's a baby inside of me! I really hope this isn't a dream."

"It's not," Steve reassured me before standing up, "Come on, let's go upstairs and celebrate, okay?"

"Sure," I said, fully aware that I sounded dazed. When we got back onto the elevator, I said, "am I going to be allowed to walk again at some point?"

"Maybe," Steve said happily. "Eventually. When I'm done being relieved that you're in one piece and I'm sure you're healthy. And I've gotta warn you, it's going to take me a while to get over the sight of you unmoving in those bushes I thought…"

Bucky interrupted with an elbow, and said, "she's fine, Steve, she was just napping. She needs all the sleep she can get now."

I made a soft noise of agreement, but made a mental resolution to try to not get frustrated by the coddling that I was sure I had ahead of me for the next several days.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

_**Steph's POV**_

I'd half expected the elevator to go to the common floor, where I thought the team, Ranger, Tank, and Bobby would all be waiting for us. Instead, JARVIS took us directly to our apartment. As soon as we stepped foot in the apartment, Steve had Bucky sit in the big armchair in our bedroom, set me gently on his lap, and wrapped a fluffy blanket around us both. Once Steve strode off to the bathroom, I sat up and faced Bucky.

"I'm so sorry, Doll, I didn't know," Bucky started.

I cut him off before he could finish saying, "Bucky, if I didn't know, there's no way you could have known. And I swear, I didn't know. I never would have…" I trailed off when my voice cracked, and Bucky shushed me and pulled me back down so I was laying on his lap again and offered me some soothing scents.

Soaking them in, I asked, "what exactly happened?"

"Well, in what Tony and JARVIS swear was a completely random draw, I got you assigned as my first target," Bucky started explaining.

"No way!" I responded.

"Well, if it was just Tony, I probably wouldn't believe it either, but since it's JARVIS who is also insisting, I think it is the truth."

"Okay, so, you drew me, and instead of just killing me right away, because we both know you could have, you did what with your time?"

"Well, I couldn't very well kill you, Doll. But the fact that I had your name meant if someone killed me, they would get your name."

"Right," I said slowly, not exactly sure where he was going with the statement.

I heard Steve laugh from the bathroom, and turned to smile at him. He was leaning against the door frame in that way he had with his arms crossed across his chest. But tonight he just had an extra layer of happiness and relaxation on him unlike any I'd seen since we met, even when he'd been able to take care of Bucky and I post-heat. With a smile for each of us, he finally rumbled out an explanation for Bucky, "so Bucky decided the prudent thing was just to kill everyone else."

The sight of Steve standing there, stripped down to just his boxer briefs was distracting enough that it took a few seconds for that information to fully process. Once it did, I looked back at Bucky who was grinning, completely unashamed of the fact.

"Wait, but that's against the rules!" I said to Bucky.

"Technically," he responded. "it's not. I just didn't get any points for killing anyone."

"So you killed everyone?"

"Well, no. I mean, you killed Binkie, Nat killed Bobby, Clint killed Tony, and Steve killed Ranger. Meanwhile, I killed everyone else. Except for Steve of course."

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me that I played paintball with the Avengers and wound up in a four way tie with Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Captain America?! I AM WONDER WOMAN!"

Steve burst out laughing at that and finally walked over and picked me back up from Bucky's lap. "Yes you are," he said before giving me a kiss. "But I think if Bucky hadn't cheated, you would have done well, but maybe not won. Especially since apparently you take naps in the middle of paintball now."

"Blah, blah, blah I'm growing an entire person inside of me! It's exhausting!" I retorted.

"I didn't cheat! I just chose not to follow the primary directive and to give myself a different mission instead," Bucky said. "Didn't see you killing me once you had my name, Punk."

Steve jostled Bucky with his shoulder even as they were walking into the bathroom together.

"Hey! No horseplay in the bathroom! It's where the most household accidents occur, and I don't want to spend the night in the ER because my alpha slipped while carrying me in the bathroom and battling with my beta!" Both men chuckled a little as Steve set me down then quickly undressed me before settling me in the tub. I let out a surprised noise as he did so, and said, "Steve, it isn't even hot in here!"

"It's warm though," Steve said. "JARVIS told me it isn't good for pregnant women to take extremely hot baths like you usually do. But he'll hold the water at this temperature, so you won't get cold."

Apparently that was decided because he and Bucky proceeded to team up against me and give me my bath. Not that I was really complaining because pretty much everything they did turned into a massage of some sort. Before I realized it, I was drifting off to sleep lulled by their soothing scents and gentle motions, those sneaks.

I'd had all kinds of celebrating in my plans, but I realized as soon as I woke up to the soft light levels that indicated Steve and Bucky were already up that it was too late for that. Of course, the nightmare I'd woken from would have been a mood killer, even if Steve and Bucky had still been in bed, so I'd just have to celebrate another time. Sitting up, I pulled the sheet with me and asked, "JARVIS, what time is it?"

"Good morning, Stephanie," JARVIS chimed as he virtually entered the room, "it is currently ten o'clock in the morning and fifty eight degrees. There is a high of seventy degrees predicted for the day with a chance of rain."

"It's already ten?!" I shouted, throwing myself out of bed and into the shower before I even remembered the fact that I'd just had a bath the night before. "I'm sooooo late, JARVIS! Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Your colleagues from Rangeman who returned to the Tower with you last night are still in the guest residence floor, and asked me to allow you to sleep in. They-"

JARVIS cut off as I was hit with a wave of nausea and slapped a hand over my mouth. I barely managed to stumble out of the shower and over to the toilet before I started trying to violently expel absolutely nothing from my stomach. When the first wave was done, I leaned against a nearby wall, silently thanking the fact that the bathroom was freakishly clean thanks to a combination of the men I lived with and the regular appointments with housekeeping. If this had been my old bathroom, before Rangeman, it would be an even more upsetting to be getting sick.

I startled from my mental pondering of how awful my housekeeping skills were when I felt soft hands wrapping me in one of our over-sized towels that was all warmed up courtesy of JARVIS. Opening my eyes, I was surprised to see one Darcy.

"Dude, are you okay?" she asked me warily.

"Just peachy," I croaked out. Then at the thought of peaches, I managed to just barely hold back a gag and shook my head, "or something else that doesn't involve food."

"Morning sickness?" Darcy asked.

I shrugged, "I guess, but I had it last night too, so can I even call it that?"

"Pretty sure you're not the first one to make that complaint. But, seeing as it didn't appear to be productive, why don't we try to get you dressed then see if we can find something that'll stay down?"

"Sure," I responded, not exactly enthusiastic about the idea but letting Darcy help me up anyway. "At the very least I'll have something to throw up next time, and maybe it won't hurt so much."

Darcy made a little placating humming noise as she guided me into the bedroom and kept a close eye on me while I pulled on my Rangeman uniform. When I grabbed a bulletproof vest after strapping on my weapons, she cautiously asked, "you're not going to go after any skips now, are you?"

I barely contained the sigh as I looked at Darcy out of the corner of my eye; this was a conversation I knew I'd be having more than once. "JARVIS, can you please record this conversation and make sure all the Avengers review it at some point. And any Rangeman colleagues who are still around. I'd like to have this conversation the least number of times possible." I paused, giving him time to comply before I turned back to Darcy and continued, "You know, in my time as a bounty hunter, I've gotten to know people in all levels and branches of law enforcement. Pregnancy is hardly a new phenomenon that I am the only omega to experience."

"I know, but, you're holding body armor right now, Steph."

"Yes, I am. Because I agreed to wear it to and from the office, and while at the office, in discussions with my mates and Ranger respectively. I have no intention of not working during my pregnancy for as long as humanly possible, but I also have no intention of putting myself or my baby in harm's way because of my desire to work."

"So, what you're saying is…" Darcy trailed off, waving her hand for me to fill in the blank.

"I plan to work at the desk, and make all reasonable efforts to not come across the paths of any skips for the duration of the pregnancy. Much in the way female police officers still work while pregnant. It can vary how they choose to be treated and what their department's policy is, but most usually have a lighter duty request option that, among other things, involves limited to no contact with prisoners except for during an emergency situation."

"And skips are basically prisoners."

"Worse, really. Skips are free men and women who know you're trying to turn them into a prisoner. They do desperate things, and it often involves hand-to-hand combat on some level. I always go out with a bodyguard and in a vest, but still. I wouldn't want to risk a bad hit, so I won't go out. I'll still wear protective gear to, from, and in the office. Furthermore, I won't even be in the van for any take-downs, I'll monitor from the control room at Rangeman. I will always be armed when I'm not with Steve, Bucky, an Avenger, or one of my Merry Men because I understand that I'm a target for my job but also for the life growing inside of me. Should it be necessary, I will use said weapons in self-defense."

Darcy pondered that for a moment before nodding her head, "I think that about covers it. Please stop recording or broadcasting, whatever it is you're doing, J, my man!"

I waited for the chime that signified that JARVIS had again exited our space before I looked at Darcy in question, "so… you and Ranger, huh? Haven't seen you since you two were locked away, but I can't help but notice you aren't bonded."

Darcy shrugged, "we're heading that way, we just decided we wanted to take our time getting there. I think we're both worried about the other one changing his mind."

I stared at her for a moment before nodding and saying, "okay."

"You're not going to give me the shovel talk?"

"Darcy, you're one of the nicest people I've met. If anything goes wrong, it won't be out of malice. So no, I'm not going to give you the 'shovel talk.' And I'm not going to give it to Ranger either because if he's told you he's serious about the relationship he is and that means he'd never intentionally hurt you. He's going to be crazy overprotective of you because, trust me, I've met some of them, and he has some seriously fucked up enemies."

"He's mentioned that," Darcy said softly.

"Well, like I said, serious business, so trust him on that part. But, I think he's done pushing people away because of it, so you know. Just cram yourself into his life until he can't even consider sending you away to save you, which I know you can and will do, and bam! You'll be set!"

"You think I can do that?"

"I think you already have," I replied honestly and, I was hoping, encouragingly. As we walked into the living room, I asked JARVIS where Steve and Bucky were, and was informed that they were waiting for us on the common floor.

When I looked at Darcy speculatively, she shrugged and said, "don't look at me. Jane's been on one of her science benders over the weekend, and I was sleeping in as well. I'd just finished getting dressed when JARVIS asked me to come offer you assistance because you needed some. I assumed if he was asking me, it was because Steve and Bucky were out."

We walked together to the elevator, and as soon as the doors opened, I thought I had stepped into some sort of twilight zone. There I was, fully uniformed, wearing body armor, and armed, and the Black Widow stepped forward and bundled me into a fuzzy robe. Then Hawkeye ushered me into an armchair that was overflowing with pillows. No sooner had I been ever so gently forced into the seat, then Iron Man was at my feet, taking off my work boots and sliding on a pair of fuzzy slippers that were, of course, in the shape of Iron Man.

Eden came clambering over and climbed onto me, only to be shooed off by everyone else so that Bruce could hand me a cup of tea without worrying about her spilling the tea on me. It was all so eerily out of the norm that I started panicking, "oh my goodness, am I not really pregnant?! Why the hell was I just so sick then?"

"What?" Bruce asked alarmed. "I thought I covered that last night, Steph. You are pregnant. After you left, I ran the tests several more times just to be sure!"

"Okay," I said slowly. "Then, what the hell is going on right now?"

Steve and Bucky were walking in carrying trays of food which they set down several feet away from me. Having heard everything, Steve tilted his head to the side, and asked, "what do you mean?"

"I'm armed right now and fully in my Rangeman uniform," I said before gesturing at all the soft and fluffiness I'd been ensconced in.

"Right," Bucky said, "and we heard what you told Darcy, and we're happy that you'll be taking your safety so seriously."

"Sure," I replied, "but doesn't all this softness and pampering seem a little over the top? I mean, I'm _hardly_ pregnant at all at this point!"

Darcy snorted out a laugh of agreement as she said, "and honestly, who puts a robe on top of a flak vest? What's the point of putting something comfortable on the outside of something that is so very uncomfortable?"

"Your vest is uncomfortable?" Tony asked excitedly while Ranger, Tank, and Bobby stepped off the elevator, caught sight of me, and had to choke back laughs.

"Yes, Tony. The vest is uncomfortable under normal situations for people with breasts. Add on the fact that my boobs are really sensitive and sore right now, and well…"

Tony bounced up and pulled Natasha and Bruce to the side and started talking enthusiastically about things that I was pretty sure were going to add up to modified body armor. Before I could try to stop them, Bucky and Steve got my attention again, and started holding up items of food from their spot across the room. With each item, they studied my face and seemed to sort them into piles that I would classify as "no," "maybe," and "probably". Once they'd finished, I started with a plate of probably foods, which I ate cautiously, trying to ignore everyone who was carefully studying me as I did so.

_**Bucky's POV**_

When Steve had gotten the first hint of Steph's scent in the woods, he'd flipped out. JARVIS connected us through the helmet comms with the rest of the team, and I could hear Steve frantically thrashing around the forest. Deciding that I'd better get him under control to make the search most effective, I'd followed the noise he was making until I found him. Once he caught sight of me, the look he gave me was equal parts disappointed and betrayed.

I honestly had no idea what I'd done to make him look at me that way, even when he asked, "how could you have endangered them like that?"

"Them? What do you mean by _them_? Who did I endanger?"

"Steph and the baby!"

"What baby?!"

"The baby she's carrying inside her?"

I'd stopped dead in my tracks and gaped at him, "Steph's _pregnant_?! How is that even possible? I thought she couldn't get pregnant from the drug? And why didn't you tell me?"

"I have no idea how it's possible, but I didn't know! I can smell it now though- how can you not smell that?"

It wasn't until we actually found Steph and had her safety in our arms that I could pick up the scent that was driving Steve nuts. As soon as it hit my nose though, I felt an undeniable urge to take care of her and make sure she was okay. I was feeling like I would go crazy with the need to make sure that Steph was always within my line of sight at the very least, but preferably within an arm's reach so I could make sure no harm came to her of any kind. From what I understood of the hormones of each dynamic, Steve would be feeling that urge tenfold.

And it wasn't something that would just be limited to Steve and I. It was a biological imperative- protect and care for the pregnant omega to ensure the healthy birth of offspring and the survival of the species. So that meant Steph would be dealing with people being over protective of her and trying to dote on her constantly within the Tower as well as whenever she was in the office at Rangeman.

Inside of me I could already feel the mental conflict growing between that urge to protect and provide, and the urge to help try to keep everyone under control for Steph. Still when Steve and I woke up the morning after finding out about the baby, and Steve wanted to make her breakfast, I was eager to help out.

We quickly went for our run, but by the time we made it to the elevators, the fans and media were already outside for the day. Their numbers having hardly dwindled in the time since we'd gone public with our relationship with Steph. As I heard them calling out to Steve and I, asking where Steph was, I could feel all the fear I had for her safety closing in on me. It made my throat tighten, and the Winter Soldier begin to bubble up closer to the surface than I'd felt him in months.

"We had a late night out with friends, she's just sleeping in at the moment," Steve explained, smile wide on his face, to one inquisitive fan.

His voice sounded tinny to me, as though it was coming from a distance, so I reached out and clamped onto Steve's left bicep with my metal hand. It was a signal we'd developed early on in my recovery, and Steve stiffened immediately. Much to my surprise, I was able to paste a smile onto my face, and I could only hope it looked real as Steve made our excuses to those gathered.

When we hit the elevators, I folded into myself in the far corner.

Steve crouched down in front of me, put his hand on my chest, mine on his, and started coaching me to slow down my breathing like we used to do when he was having an asthma attack as a kid.

Finally, I felt the Soldier back off, and I looked into Steve's eyes, breathing in his scent and allowing it to calm me even more. "Thanks," I whispered out when I was able.

The elevator door opened on the gym floor, and Sam stood outside watching us curiously. "Everything okay in here?"

"Yep," Steve said, bouncing up as though nothing was wrong. "Bucky was just worried that my heart rate didn't get high enough during our run, so he wanted to give me a little bit of a startle."

I playfully shoved him with my shoulder and laughed, releasing the last of the tension.

"Uh huh," Sam responded dubiously. "It would be perfectly normal if being confronted by the mob scene that seems to live out front these days made someone worry. About how safe even just living in The Tower under a microscope would be for a pregnant omega."

I blushed and looked at my feet even as Steve spun around, "is that what that was about?"

Sighing, I nodded. "You saw them, at least half of those people were still hoping to catch a glimpse of Steph- they haven't stopped hounding her. The second they realize she's pregnant, they'll only get crazier."

"Maybe so," Steve mused, sounding somehow calm when I felt sure he was the one who was supposed to be freaking out. "But the way I see it, that's no reason not to live our lives and celebrate what we've been given. We'll just stick to what we've been doing- making sure she always has someone with her. And as she gets bigger and slows down, we'll put a couple more people on her."

"You'll figure it out as you go," Sam added. "But today, why don't you celebrate. Now, what were you two doing down here instead of up with Steph?"

"We just went for a run," I explained. "And we're gonna make her breakfast in bed, but we didn't want to go back in and use the shower there for fear that we'll wake her."

"Or get distracted," Steve cut in. "So we're going to use the locker room and then head up to the main floor."

"Remember," Sam cautioned, walking with us to the locker room. "She was sick last night. If she's going to be queasy early in the pregnancy, it could be any time of day. You're best bet would be to make her something bland. Or maybe make her a few things to see what looks good."

Sam gave me one more look, carefully calculating if I really was back, and I smiled at him in gratitude. That alone seemed to tip the scale, so he nodded and headed back out, presumably to take the elevator to his floor as he'd been waiting to do when we'd arrive in the manner we had.

While we were cooking, and I admit, it was way too much food that we were cooking, the team filtered into the floor. At some point, Steph's voice came filtering through the floor via JARVIS's intercom. Listening to her explain her plan and how she would handle her own safety helped relax me even further.

With a knowing grin, Steve looked over at me and said, "that's our girl. She's an active participant in her own safety, Buck. And that's going to be our biggest advantage. Even when she gets moody and doesn't want to listen to us, she'll know, deep down, what she needs to do. And she'll keep our baby safe, okay? You have to trust her with that."


	25. Chapter 25

_**Steve's POV**_

Everyone was laughing at me, and I knew it. On some level, it was probably even warranted, but, still, knowing that, I didn't particularly care.

I was an alpha, Steph was my omega, and she was pregnant! That was the only reason I needed to coddle her as much as I wanted.

Not to mention that as we'd gone through the pregnancy, it seemed that the baby was racing through development much more quickly than the average baby.

Bruce and Tony speculated that it was because the baby had the serum in his blood, and the serum's primary purpose was survival of the host. It was the same reason that was the primary effect the serum had on Steph after her transfusion with Bucky's blood.

That meant that poor Steph's body was pushed to adapt to a baby that was growing at almost double the normal rate. That meant a lot of aches and pains as her body had to physically make space and adapt to the weight it was carrying much faster than normal. As a result, Steph was almost always uncomfortable, though it seemed her healing was helping a bit with those symptoms as well.

It also meant that she was metabolizing food at a high rate to feed herself and a super-growing super-baby! And that translated into me constantly feeling the need to make sure she was fed.

"Steve, you're turning me into a blimp!" Steph cried in frustration as I walked onto the floor of Rangeman with an over-sized basket of whole wheat blueberry muffins.

I'd taken to bringing Steph food at the office usually at least three times a day. And fairly regularly on the days when she was home. At the moment, Steph seemed to be amused by it, just as all of her coworkers are, but it could vary minute to minute with her hormone fluctuations.

Steph threw her arms up as I strode confidently into the control room where she was watching monitors with Hal and Ram. Although she was, chronologically around 20 weeks pregnant, Bruce told us that in terms of fetal development, she was closer to 34 weeks pregnant. That meant her belly was pronounced, so I wasn't surprised when she used the hug I gave her in response to her gesture as an opportunity for her to leverage herself to her feet.

I gave her a kiss as I pulled her up, and then I smiled and said, "I had to commemorate your last day before maternity leave! I even got Ranger's permission to share."

Because Steph was moving so slowly and laboriously these days, and no one could really predict how long the duration of her pregnancy would be, she'd decided to stop working early. I knew she felt guilty about it, and I could smell the distress rolling off her when I mentioned the milestone.

Of course, the smell of a distressed, pregnant omega had me pulling her back into my arms as I flooded her in soothing scents.

"It's okay, Steph," Ram said. "We'll come visit you while you're out!"

"I know," Steph murmured from where she was pressed into my neck breathing in my scent. "I just feel badly about how short of notice I ended up giving for my leave."

"Don't, Babe," Ranger said simply from behind me. "Just make sure you and the little one are healthy and that's all we ask."

"Hopefully I'll have fewer night terrors about Anicetus kidnapping me now that I won't have to travel between the tower and here anymore until after the baby is born," she whispered so quietly I knew she hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"Hey," I said, placing her on her feet again and bending down to make sure we had good eye contact. "I've told you- they're all dead or in prison. There's no one out that actively pursuing the drugs Hercules and Hebe, and as far as all of our intel is showing, there's no one looking to pick it back up. You're safe from them, Anicetus is gone. And I'll remind you of that every day until you're sure if I have to."

Steph studied my gaze before nodding her head firmly, and I pressed a kiss to her brow. "Now, have an afternoon snack," I said holding up the basket and ignoring the laughter that burst out of Steph and I could practically feel radiating off of the others, even if they didn't allow it to escape.

As Steph selected a muffin and started walking back to her desk, Ranger casually asked, "what more did you have to wrap up today?"

"Actually, I'm pretty much done. I've been working hard this week to make sure I finished everything and left clear instructions for anything that had to be passed off, and I guess I was a little too efficient, so I'm done. That's why I was watching monitors with Hal and Ram even though it's as boring as watching paint dry."

"Well then, why don't you take a few minutes in the break room to eat your snack, then just head back to the Tower for the day? I know you feel most secure when traveling with Steve these days."

I passed a look of gratitude his way, and he smiled in return. Placing my hand on Steph's waist, I made sure I had a firm hold on her and was providing her with a strong, soothing scent as Ranger opened the door to the break room.

As soon as she stepped in, there was a chorus of "SURPRISE!" and Steph let out a gasp of surprise. The room was decorated in blues because we knew we were having a boy with platinum, silver, and gold throughout because we didn't yet know if our son would be alpha, beta, or omega. On one table was an outrageously huge pile of gifts, another had a large spread of food that had Steph's stomach growling despite her snack, and throughout the room were a mixture of our Rangeman and Avenger families.

Bucky stepped forward and swooped Steph up into a hug and a kiss when the hormones got the best of her and she started crying. There was some gentle teasing, then Steph was guided to an overly cushioned chair with Bucky and I standing protectively behind her.

As Steph started opening presents, Tony stepped forward and gave her a card. When she opened it, it contained a bunch of pictures, and Tony explained. "As you know, I've been doing a little bit of work in your apartment. Rest assured, you can go back in there today, and start nesting or whatever. In addition to squaring away the nursery, I turned the linen closet between your bedroom and the nursery into a small birthing suite and added a door from it into your suite. So when you're ready, if you want to do it yourself, Steph, you have a place. And when you're done, you can move directly into your room without having to go anywhere else."

It was these moments that made me laugh at the idea that I'd ever thought Tony was selfish. He may be filled with bluster and seem pompous, but it was all for show. A bravado he'd developed in the face of a harsh world that was always in his face speculating about his life and waiting for him to fail.

In reality, Tony was a compassionate man. Someone who went out of his way to make sure that everyone in his life was happy. If there was anything he thought he could do or get for you to make things better for you, he absolutely would.

The sentiment behind the gift clearly overwhelmed Steph who latched onto Tony and sobbed into his shoulder for a good five minutes. Once she'd finished, I cleared the emotions out of my own throat and said, "thanks, Tony."

With his arm around my waist, leaning into me, Bucky echoed the sentiment. I was glad that Steph had a comfortable location to give birth if it turned out that she, like the majority of omegas, wanted to do so alone and especially without an alpha and/or beta presence.

Bucky and I had talked it over among ourselves, and I felt confident that we'd finally gotten to the point where we really could happily accept whatever Steph wanted. As difficult as it would be to be able to hear her be in pain and not be there for her and comfort her, we understood that it was nothing personal. Rather it was a hormonal reaction born from years of evolution and the need for omegas to protect themselves and their young in their MOST vulnerable hours.

It helped too knowing that if she didn't want to be alone, she had omega friends in Darcy, Natasha, and Tony who would drop everything to be there for her when she called.

The week spent living on one of the guest floors while Tony and Pepper made the changes to our suite setup was difficult on us, but Steph most of all. It wasn't really anyone's fault- Steph's pregnancy was progressing much more quickly than we could have anticipated, and no one had expected her to get pregnant when she had. Although we'd planned to make some changes, we thought we'd have a couple months to plan them out before her next heat followed by a standard forty weeks from conception to birth.

In reality, Steph had gotten pregnant from the last drugged heat, and we hadn't been prepared. Ecstatic, but not prepared. We'd had to design the nursery, find and screen contractors, and move out for the duration of construction before work could begin. All in all, I thought we'd done it on a reasonable time frame, but it was unfortunate that Steph's need to nest had started up before we were living in our own space again.

It was funny, really to watch her. After her emotion dump on Tony, she'd gone back to the party as usual for several minutes. Opening the rest of the presents, she happily flitted around from person to person and chatted. Then, I watched her look at everything spread out on the gift table which would complete and personalize the nursery and it was like watching a switch flip.

I nudged Bucky and together we watched the light bulb go on in Steph's head that she didn't have to hold back on those instincts anymore. From that moment it took her about two minutes to say her goodbyes to everyone, pile everything up on some carts for Bucky and I to take down to the garage, and push us out and on our way back to the Tower.

She was no longer feeling guilty about her leave; instead, Bucky and I could feel energy and excitement radiating off of Steph as though she'd been storing it up since the second she'd found out she was pregnant. Apparently the first order of business Steph needed to fix was the scent of the place after a week of vacancy and the presence of construction workers and contractors.

For the first afternoon, she insisted on energetic bouts of sex in the birthing suite, nursery, and our bedroom in order to bathe the places in our scents. Then for the rest of the week, we spread that around to the remainder of the apartment- with healthy doses reapplied to the first three rooms as well.

A little over a week after the baby shower, I woke earlier than usual, unsure why. Almost immediately I realized that Bucky was still in bed, but Steph was nowhere to be found. I heard a muffled noise on the other side of the birthing suite door and got up, gently shaking Bucky awake as we did.

Together we sat silently outside the doors waiting, accepting periodic reassurances from JARVIS that Stephanie was doing well. I was in by the door in the hallway, outside our room, as the first line of defense between anyone who entered the apartment and my family that was, at that very moment, growing. Bucky sat at the door between the suite and our bedroom.

While he would also defend in a fight if necessary, we'd discussed the positioning with Steph beforehand for different reasons. Odds were strong that Steph would need help with cleaning up and, if she didn't want one of the omegas, she'd want Bucky, her beta before she could quite handle my alpha scent. And that was okay too, we'd happily give her whatever she wanted.

Around two hours after I had awoken, presumably from hearing Steph in the birthing room, I heard the sound of a tiny cry and smiled to myself, instantly in love. Several more minutes elapsed before I heard the soft click of the other door and Bucky's muted voice speaking. I couldn't even hear Steph respond, but there were many more rustling noises after that.

Content, I kept my spot on guard, glad that Bucky was with Steph. And the longer they moved around without Bucky coming out, the more I felt reassured that both Steph and our baby were okay. Eventually there was a definite change and the rustling noises moved continuously and resolutely from the birthing suite and into our bedroom. In response, I shifted myself and my focus over to that door.

Steph had been so worried about how I'd react if she included Bucky before me. She didn't want to hurt my feelings. As much as I'd reassured her, I couldn't know for sure, so it was a relief in the moment to know I was right. I was more than okay that only Bucky was in there, I was actually ecstatic that they were together in that moment.

Still, I was even more excited when the bedroom door opened slowly. Bucky was facing away from me at first, but once he turned toward me, my breath was taken away by the sheer amount of happiness and love I saw on his face. It was written all over, in his eyes, his smile, and the tear tracks running between the two.

"Ready to meet our son?" he asked, voice choked up with emotion.

"Are you sure she's ready?" I asked, fully aware of how protective omegas who had just given birth could be.

"Get in here, Punk," Bucky laughed beckoning me forward with his arm.

Feeling relieved, I stood and pulled Bucky into me as I walked through the door, muttering an affectionate "jerk" at him.

Barely two steps through the door, I pulled up short and felt the breath whoosh out of me at the sight in front of me. Steph was in our bed, stripped but with her lower half covered by blankets. She had an absolutely blissed out look on her face, and she was staring down. On her lap was one of our pillows and she was using it to hold our son up against her as she nursed our son.

Allowing the love I was feeling to completely overwhelm my scent, I stepped slowly forward. A few more steps in, and Steph looked up, smile shining bright. While it truly didn't matter to me which of us had actually impregnated Steph, the blond hair on our son's head made it obvious he was biologically mine.

I moved forward even more slowly, not wanting to spook Steph, and she gave me a look that told me she appreciated it. As a gesture of that gratitude, she shifted a little and indicated for me to settle myself down on the bed next to his head on the side from which he was nursing. Carefully I slipped my arm around Steph, satisfied when she settled against me after a moment of tension.

"You did such a good job, Steph," I murmured. "He's beautiful. How was it? Are you okay?"

"I'm good," Steph murmured. "Though it definitely hurt more than getting stabbed."

Bucky was standing back a few paces, and Steph reached out her free hand toward him, waiting until he settled on her other side.

"How does that feel?" Bucky finally asked as we all three sat there just watching our son nurse.

"Magical," Steph said on a sigh.

We watched for a couple more minutes before I broke the silence again, "we're going to have to call him something, any ideas?"

Steph had resolutely refused to talk about names leading up to birth, saying she'd know what to call him when she met him. But now she seemed a little nervous as she looked between us, so I just gave her a little more encouragement before she said, "well, Bucky mostly goes by his middle name, and you go by your first name. I thought maybe we could name him James, after Bucky's first name, and make Grant his middle name to match yours. That way he's named after both of you, and he can go by James or Grant- whichever he prefers."

"I like it," I agreed, looking over at Bucky who looked taken aback and seemed to be completely speechless. "Come on, Buck, what do you say? James Grant?"

After a few more beats, Bucky pressed a kiss to Steph's head and looked over at me saying, "'James Grant Rogers' sounds perfect to me."

This time I knew I looked baffled, and Steph shifted a little so she could lean against Bucky and both could give me big, begging eyes as Steph said, "Bucky and I talked about it over the past few month and, I know it's kind of old fashioned these days, but we both wanted to take your last name. If that's okay?"

Knowing full well that I was crying again, I nodded my head and studied my family happily. We settled back into each other and watched as our son fed for a good long time. When he finished up and was burped, Steph pulled him a little higher on her chest, and once I was satisfied that she and the baby were suitably covered, I said, "JARVIS, will you take a picture for us, and send an announcement out to the Avengers family and Rangeman announcing the birth of James Grant Rogers? We will let them know when we're ready for visitors."

"Right away, and may I be the first to offer my congratulations?" JARVIS replied.

"Thank you, JARVIS," we said in unison.

A couple minutes later, JARVIS chimed again. "Dr. Banner would like to request that he be allowed in to examine Steph and baby as the first feeding has been accomplished. He promises to be as quick as possible."

Quick glances at Steph and Bucky showed that they felt similarly resigned to it, as I offered our agreement. Bucky had already reassured me that there was no excessive bleeding going on, so it was no surprise when Bruce quietly came in, did a quick exam of both, and nodded his head happily. "Everything seems great," he offered. Waving his hand over where Steph had the baby snuggled up to herself skin to skin with a blanket around both of him he added, "just keep doing that. I'll be back frequently to make sure everything continues to progress in a healthy manner. I'll try to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible while I do, so if I don't say anything, assume all is well. You guys make a cute kid."

With that he reached back into his bag and pulled out a light blue blanket with silver, the color representing an alpha, around the edges. I had no idea how he'd known to bring that one, but I smiled happily as I saw the image of my shield on it. Then he reached back in and pulled out a soft Bucky Bear that was about the same size as our son. After another quick smile at us, he set both next to me on the bed, told us they were from the team, and walked back out.

A few moments later, Steph reached out and I handed the items to her. She made me hold the blanket for several minutes and Bucky hold the bear. Then she took them, sniffed them, and nodded before handing us each the other object. Another few minutes and two satisfied sniffs later, she shifted and switched out the blanket she was using on little James. The bear, for the time being, she kept for herself and used to as a pillow on top of my shoulder before drifting off to nap.

She slept for only about twenty minutes before The baby woke and started rooting around, opening and closing his mouth before he even fully roused, searching for food once more. Steph stirred and helped him latch on, and I couldn't do anything but watch in utter fascination. It was a pattern that repeated throughout the day with Steph not always sleeping in between, but with the baby feeding fifteen times.

Personally, I was a little surprised, but when I mentioned it during Bruce's visit first thing the next morning, he smiled and said it was a good thing. It wasn't unheard of for babies to feed that frequently, and it meant Steph's body would begin producing milk in larger quantities more quickly- something a son of mine was likely to require.

Because she seemed to be recovering well and Bucky was there to stay with her while I kept an eye on James, Bruce cleared Steph for a shower. When she came back out, I gave her a kiss as I quickly passed James off, not wanting her to worry I was keeping him from her. She'd dressed in what she called a kangaroo care shirt, and I watched as she easily positioned the baby inside her shirt. Although she said it was strong enough to hold him up, Steph hardly ever moved her hands away from his body.

"Want to be out of bed for a bit?" I asked. "Maybe settle on the couch for a change of scenery?"

"Yes!" Steph replied happily.

"And the other thing we discussed?" Bucky prodded her.

"I know you're probably feeling just as protective as I am, but I thought we could let the others know they can drop by whenever they're ready to meet Grant. Would that be okay?" Steph asked.

I'd noticed that I tended to refer to our son as "James" whereas Bucky usually preferred "Grant." And Steph seemed to flit between the two with no pattern I had yet to detect. I figured it would be up to our son, in time, to decide which he preferred. In response to the question, I said, "I think I can handle family- team and Rangeman both- but it will be a while before I'm comfortable with anyone beyond that."

"Agreed," Steph retorted before stealing another kiss.

"JARVIS, you heard the lady!" I called out.

There was a pause as JARVIS replayed the last few minutes of conversation, and I utilized the time to carry Steph down the stairs over her protests. Before I had my precious cargo settled on the couch, the door to our apartment was opening up to reveal Darcy and Ranger. Both Ranger and Darcy had smiles pasted on their faces that only got wider when they caught sight of Steph and James bundled together on the couch.

"Honestly, Babe," Ranger said after they took a couple minutes to take in the sight, "for a while I never thought I'd see this day."

"That's not fair, Ranger," I replied, "it had to have been more likely for Steph than for you, even when she was with Morelli and swearing she didn't want kids."

"Ranger already has a daughter," Darcy laughed out.

Startled, I looked up at Steph who didn't look at all surprised. I looked over at Bucky, and as one we shifted our gaze to Ranger who was looking at Steph in surprise. It was Steph who finally spoke, addressing Ranger with a shrug, "it wasn't mine to tell. I know you're even more gunshy about people knowing after the whole Scrog thing." Turning to Bucky and I, Steph explained, "a few years ago, Ranger had a stalker who kidnapped his daughter to attempt to take over his life. And also to draw Ranger out and eliminate him."

I wasn't quite sure what to say, but was at a loss. Thankfully, Steph turned back to the baby and in baby talk said, "but thankfully he wore body armor when he came in, and his daughter is, well, his daughter. She shot Scrog and all was well… after a while."

"Huh," Bucky said, effectively summing up all I'd been able to come up with in response to the topic. "Well, good for her."

"Alright, people, this is way too dark of talk with someone so fresh and new to this world in the room," Darcy said, fearlessly sitting herself down right next to step and leaning over to coo at James and reach a finger out to pet his cheek a little. By the time she was done, the elevator doors were opening bearing the rest of our teammates.

Only twenty minutes later, most of Steph's Merry Men, it seemed, had joined us as well. I was curious who they had left in the office, but I figured they knew what they were doing and let it go. After all, it wasn't any of my business. Our friends stayed with us for hours, chatting and basking in the happy glow that had overcome our apartment. When Steph, the baby, or both slept, the conversation would go down to a dull hum, and when both were awake, it would become more boisterous.

By the time dinner came around, everyone had cleared out, leaving Steph, Bucky, and I to bond with our baby in peace again.

"Who'd have thought something so good could come from a run-in with illegal drugs," I murmured as we settled into bed that night to try to get at least a little sleep before James woke us again.

"Better not let anyone else hear you say that," Bucky laughed out.

"Yeah, Captain America is supposed to be a good role model to all!" Steph teased.

"I just mean that if you skip hadn't taken that drug, you would have taken him down without a fuss, so Bucky and I wouldn't have met you," I argued.

"Mmmmm," Steph murmured. "I'd already moved into town, and you two are just too perfect for me. I think it would have happened either way."

"Doesn't matter," Bucky said. "I've got you both, and our growing family. It's more than I deserve, but I'm going to enjoy it every moment I can."

"You're a good man," Steph said, "you both are. You deserve this, we all do. And any more we decide to have."

"Oh, you're ready to discuss another already?" I joked.

"Well, he's pretty perfect," Steph said. "It'd be selfish of us to deny the world of more perfect babies."

Grinning at her I said, "you can have as many as you want; he is pretty perfect."

_**The End**_


End file.
